Forbidden, Forgotten, and Unforgiven
by Jadiona
Summary: Bella was changed, but not into a vampire. It's now been eighty-nine years since Edward left. The Cullen's return to Forks, so does Bella. Will Edward and Bella be able to love each other, or is it too late. Rated M for violence and lemons.
1. Return

Forbidden, Forgotten, and Unforgiven

**A.N.: **Okay here's another story that I originally planned to wait until after Five Years Later was done, but I'm too happy because I have forty-one reviews on Five Years Later so I couldn't wait.This is another New Moon rewrite, and in case you haven't figured it out, I love screwing with New Moon.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 1 – Return

Bella POV

It had been eighty-nine years since Edward had left, and eighty-eight and a half years since I had changed. I could still remember it clearly; Laurent had been about to kill me and then in one second that had changed. He had been standing across the field about to attack when a deep buried instinct took me over and instead I attacked him. I was halfway across the field when a burning sensation hit me and my clothes shredded. I attacked him and found out my hand was a paw, and my teeth were sharp. I hadn't cared what I was and I continued my attack. I had just ripped off his head when a terrible thought had appeared, _that could be Edward. _I stopped cold, let out a cry of agony that came out as a howl, and ran. I ended up somewhere in the middle of the forest where I managed to return to my human form. I curled up into a ball against a tree. It had been there a few hours and then Jacob found me. He had clothes in his arms and had handed them to me without a word. After I got dressed Jacob led me back to La Push where I was explained what had happened to me. I was a werewolf, and the reason was because of the Cullen's. I no longer could grow my hair long, my hair was now shorter then Alice's. At first I refused to believe that the Cullen's had been responsible, but as time passed on and I heard the thoughts of my new family I to came to believe it. I didn't hate the Cullen's–it wasn't feasible–but I certainly didn't consider them as family anymore (at least that's what I kept on telling myself). I had spent twenty years with Jacob where our relationship had grown. We had went from being best friends, to lovers, and last of all to mates. After twenty years he found his real soul mate, a beautiful Makah woman named Selena. I left La Push shortly after, and I haven't returned since.

I haven't morphed into my wolf form in almost twenty years, and I was still one hundred eighteen. I had already discovered that the females couldn't age, because Leah had managed to stop morphing for a solid five years. She didn't change a bit. The female werewolves not only didn't age, we couldn't imprint, and we couldn't get pregnant. When I left La Push there were a total of fourteen werewolves, excluding myself. Sam, Paul, Jared, Embry, Jacob, Quil, Seth, Leah, Collin, Brady, Lynn, Brandon, Alex, and Marsha were the names of the werewolves. Leah, Lynn, and Marsha were all females. The reason I didn't include myself was because I had never been part of the pack. I was able to talk with them if I wished but I didn't have to.

I was currently in Ecuador enjoying the warm temperature. One of the things I love about being in Ecuador was the fact that there were a hundred-odd men at your beckoned call. The people of Ecuador–like most South American countries–partied all through the night. It was the one good part of the day. It was the part where I could get drunk and forget my sorrows. I hated my life, the fact that I couldn't die, trust me I tried. I tried shooting myself, throwing myself off a cliff, being hit by a bus, and a train. It was impossible for me to die. I had even been bit by a vampire once, and that didn't work. Another oddity of being a female werewolf was that the venom of a vampire doesn't affect us. A male werewolf dies, but for those of us that are females it just stings for a few days then goes away. I had loved two different men. The first had never loved me, somewhere in the back of my mind I had always known. The second had dumped me–not that it was his fault–for the woman he imprinted. I thanked my lucky stars that I was able to get drunk, I was able to get high, and I could have any man I liked. I knew that most of the male werewolves had passed on. Sam had died about a year after Emily approximately forty years ago. Paul had passed on almost sixty years ago after Rachel had died in a car wreck. Jared and Kim got old and died together about twenty years ago. Jacob had died about five years ago along with his love Selena. Quil and Claire were both still alive, but were now very old. Seth had imprinted on Karly (a one year old) about five years ago and was still alive. Collin and Brady had both been killed only a few years after I left. Brandon had managed to stop morphing and had moved to Europe where we believed he was still at. Alex had died only a year ago, and no one knew how. Embry was still alive and well, and I knew all of this because I still talked to him. I'd call him about once a week and found out all that had happened. Embry had never imprinted, and instead he fell in love with Lynn. Marsha had done like me and left and none of us knew where she was. Leah had against all the odds stayed in La Push and currently led what was left of the pack.

The pack now included all of four werewolves Leah, Embry, Lynn, and Seth. I missed La Push and Forks, as well as all of my friends. At first Leah and I hadn't gotten along, but as time passed we became good friends. We weren't best friends like I was with Embry, Lynn, and Seth but we weren't enemies either. I suddenly really wanted to return to Forks. I knew just the man to call, Jason Jenks the fourth; he was the fourth generation Jason. I met the first generation Jason when I originally left La Push. He was a purveyor of illegal documents, and his son then grandson and now great grandson all continued the business.

I was sitting at a bar so I called to the bartender. "Hey", I shouted.

The man came over to me, "What would you like, miss?" He asked.

"A zombie, please", I said. Liquid courage is what they called alcohol, and I needed it.

I pulled out my cell phone and called Jason Jenks the fourth. He answered on the third ring. _"Hello?"_ He sounded nervous.

"Hey, Jenks, it's Bella." I said.

"_Hi, Bella, what do you need today?" _He asked.

"I need a birth Certificate with the name of Bella Isis Black, make the age so that I'm fifteen. I also need a passport, a driver's permit, an emancipation paper, and to be enrolled in Forks High School. You already know I weigh 110 pounds and am 5'4". I also need you to see if a house is for sale." I told him the address of my dad's old place. "If it's for sale, buy it for me and I'll pay you an additional fifteen percent on top of the cost."

"_Okay, I'll get right on it. When will you be here to pick up the papers?"_

"I'll be there in about a week, and Jenks is there something wrong?" I asked.

"_Umm, no there's nothing wrong."_

"It doesn't sound like there's nothing wrong, but if you insist." I said.

"_I'll have them done. Bye, Bella." _He said.

That was when I heard the background. _'You better get off the phone.' _A terrifying voice said. I recognized the voice, it was Jasper's.

"Give the phone to your client, Jason." I put a terrifying edge in my voice. I heard the Phone passed to Jasper. Jason didn't argue with me when I used that voice, no one did.

"_Who's this?" _Jasper asked.

"Why, hello Jasper. It's been far too long; though I'm shocked you don't recognize me." I said still keeping the edge.

"_Bella?" _Jasper gasped.

"Yes, that's who it is. Well, bye." I said and hung up.

I picked up the drink and downed it.

Jasper POV

I walked back to my car. I was dazed, how was Bella still alive? I had forced Jason to tell me about her when she hung up. She was coming to Forks, that's where we were moving. I was certain it was Bella, but it hadn't sounded like her. I mean it was her voice alright, but I could hear the hatred and anger seething through her voice. They were two emotions Bella had never had. It had been almost ninety years since we had seen her, and I knew she should be dead. Somehow she was still alive. We were returning, and so was she.

**A.N.: **So concludes the first chapter. How did I do? Please review


	2. Forks

**A.N.: **Okay for starters I so wasn't expecting seven reviews. I thought I'd get one maybe two. There has to be other Bella turned werewolf stories, isn't there? I can't be the only one. In honor of all the reviews I am adding a rush update. So, thank you all for the reviews, the faves, and the alerts.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 2 – Forks

Edward POV

We were moving back into our house outside of Forks. It was the first time in eighty-nine years, not that I cared. I had left Bella behind so she could live out a happy human life which I was certain she did. She had probably married, had children, grown old, and died. Those were all the things I could never do. Alice had never forgiven me for leaving Bella, and now we hardly spoke. I had continued living for my parents' sakes, if you could call my lifeless body living. I hardly ever spoke, and the only thing I ever did was stay in my room, hunt, and go to school. I never played my piano or composed new music.

I was currently in my bedroom. It was the same bedroom that I had so many memories of with Bella in. There was a commotion downstairs and a lot of talking but I didn't bother to listen with my ears or my mind. I didn't care. My real life had ended when I left Bella. I was nothing more then a shell.

I wasn't listening, but one word hit my ears like a ringing bell. "Bella, are you sure?" Alice asked.

Suddenly I was alert, "Yes, I'm one hundred percent certain that it was Bella." Jasper said.

"How is it even possible? She'd have to be a hundred and eight years old, unless she's a vampire." Carlisle said.

"She's not a vampire, and she didn't sound like an old woman. Besides if she was an old woman she wouldn't be registering as a sophomore in Forks High School." Jasper said.

"What all did you find out from Jenks?" Alice asked.

"He told me that she's coming here under the name of Bella Isis Black. He wouldn't tell me much about her past, no matter what kind of a threat I made. He told me he'd rather me kill him then her. All I could get was the name she currently goes by and that she's in Ecuador but planning on moving here. He's afraid of me but he's terrified of her. I can't say that I blame him, you should have heard her voice." Jasper said.

I came out and down the stairs to the living room. "What did you say that she called herself?" I asked.

"Bella Isis Black", Jasper replied.

Why did that sound familiar? Black… I recognized it from somewhere. Black… where had I heard it before? I remembered back to when she told me that she knew what I was, _'I ran into an old family friend – Jacob Black', _she had told me. Jacob Black was related to Ephraim Black, the werewolf we had made our treaty with. I didn't talk instead I went over to our computer. I went onto the La Push webpage. I typed in Isabella Marie Swan. Two links came up, I opened the first one. The archive read;

You are cordially invited  
to the union of  
Isabella Marie Swan and Jacob Lesley Black  
on September 13, 2008

Below the word was an image of Jacob and Bella standing side by side. Jacob had a crew cut hair style, and hers was cut like a pageboy's. All of my family huddled around the screen. "If it is Bella then she's using her married name." I said quietly.

Bella had married, not that I hadn't believed she wouldn't. Part of me had hoped that she hadn't, but I knew she deserved someone who could give her what she deserved, marriage and children.

Emmett was the one that broke the silence, "Is he a werewolf?" Emmett asked.

I looked into Emmett's mind, and he was remembering that the werewolves were really tall. How they all had their hair cut really short. Was Jacob a werewolf? He couldn't be, could he? "I don't think so. If there had been werewolves when we had been here last time, we would have known." I said. "Besides if he had been a werewolf he wouldn't have told her what we were, and he was the one that told her."

Bella POV – One week later

It was strange to be back in this house. It had been over eighty-seven years since I lived here, and eighty years since the last time I had visited. The memories were shockingly strong. I had bought all new furniture and had gotten everything I needed. Tomorrow I was to be starting school and I knew it would be a hard day. I suddenly needed something to drink.

I went over to the cabinet and pulled out what I needed. I put a cup of crushed ice into a mixing glass. I proceeded to pour an ounce of dark rum, half an ounce of grenadine, half an ounce of triple sec, an ounce of apricot brandy, two ounces of orange juice, and two ounces of sour mix. I shook it up and strained it into a highball glass. I added two ice cubes, an ounce of Bacardi 151 rum, and a slice of lemon. It was my thirteenth zombie this week, not that I cared. I couldn't die of cirrhosis of the liver, or any other disease that could be caused by drinking.

I downed it and went over to the couch. I wished this drink had the same affect on me that it originally had, but of course I was slowly growing immune. I was growing immune just like I had with every other alcoholic drink I'd so far had. I knew that I'd soon have to find something stronger. I'd just have to figure out what.

I knew that I ought to go down to La Push and say hi to my friends but I wasn't in the mood. I'd do it tomorrow. I was sleeping in my old room; it didn't feel right to sleep in the room my father once slept in. I knew that tomorrow would be a long day.

**A.N.: **I hope you liked it. Please Review. I also have a poll up that I need people to vote on.


	3. High School

**A.N.: **Thank you for the quick reviews, I love you all.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 3 – High School

Bella POV

The next day came too soon, and with it a killer hangover. Last night I had sat on the couch for several hours thinking about Edward. I finally couldn't take it anymore and I downed the whole bottle of Bacardi rum. It had knocked me out and I woke up early this morning because I fell off the couch. I got dressed in a short lime green mini skirt, a saffron yellow halter top, and black stilettos. I put on a pair of diamond earrings, an emerald bracelet, a ruby ring, and a sapphire necklace. I wasn't quite as shy about my body as I once was.

I went out to my car which was as ostentatious as you could get. It was the brand new Pagani Zonda Z3, the most expensive vehicle currently on the market with a price tag of just over 10,000,000 dollars. It was a hard top convertible, and I left the top up. It was painted a steel blue with Isis printed in ice blue on both doors. I drove it to school where I parked. Every kid in the parking lot turned and stared. I noticed that the next vehicle that had any value was a Volvo VX7 painted silver. It immediately reminded me of Edward's Volvo from the last time I was here.

I got out of my car and locked it. I went to the front desk where an older woman was sitting behind the desk. She had gray hair which was pulled into a sloppy bun. Her eyes were a light green and she had a gentle face.

"Hello I'm Bella Isis Black and am here to pick up my papers." I said giving a gentle smile.

She pulled a group of papers out and handed them to me, "Here you go, I hope you enjoy your first day." She said.

"Thank you", I said, though it was a pointless hope for me to enjoy today. I knew I'd be miserable.

I walked to my first class which was tenth grade English. I went inside and stopped cold. Sitting in the third row was Jasper. I couldn't believe my bad luck, how the fuck had I ended up coming back at the same time they did? I took a deep breath and winced, wrong move because vampires stink. Their smell burns my nose.

Part of me wanted to make a run for it, but I wouldn't do that. I realized what them being here would do. It would make more of us change again. That couldn't happen; I'd have to find a way to make them leave. I smiled at Jasper and went to sit next to him.

His eyes had focused on my hair, or what was left of it. My hair was cut in a crop or crew cut design, and not lengthy. I had originally kept it slightly longer and it had been a pageboy hair style, but after about five years I felt that was too long and had turned it into a crop. That was the length I had kept it at ever since.

"Well, hello Jasper. I must say you haven't changed a bit." I whispered much too low for human ears. I knew he would hear it though. My menacing edge was back, I couldn't help it all of my instincts were telling me he needed to be destroyed. Now that I really could see, I noticed all the scars on his skin. Everything about his looks, his smell screamed dangerous. If I was a younger werewolf I wouldn't have been able to control myself.

"What happened to your hair?" Jasper asked. His eyes hadn't left it.

"I had to cut it. My kind can't have long hair." I vaguely said.

It was at that time that Jasper took a breath of air. His nose wrinkled, "What are you?" He asked.

I gave him a dark, "I am your enemy." I said. It was the truth, I was a werewolf and he was a vampire.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

I wanted to chuckle but resisted the urge. "I'm a werewolf, as I've been for almost eighty-nine years."

He didn't speak again and the class passed in silence. I went to my next class which was gym. I walked in and found both Rosalie and Emmett in this class. I wanted to curse aloud, but didn't. I went and changed into gym clothes. I came back out and Emmett was standing by the door. I reminded myself not to take a deep breath.

"Why hello, Emmett", I said politely.

Rosalie was also nearby and both of them had their eyes zeroed in on my hair. I decided just to get it over.

"Yes, I cut my hair, and by the way I'm a werewolf." I walked away before either of them could comment.

The class passed way too slowly, and finally it was done. The next three classes passed faster. They were geometry, world history, and art. Then it was time for lunch.

I went to the cafeteria where I got a full tray of food. I saw that the Cullen's were sitting at a table by themselves, and the one closest to them was empty. I walked over to the table and took a seat. Edward was looking me over closely.

I turned slightly so that I was facing them. "Well, I would say it's a pleasure to see you, but that would be bull shit." I said quietly.

Alice hadn't taken her eyes off of my hair, "What happened to your hair?" She asked.

"I cut it, because I'm a werewolf." I said slowly, menacingly.

"How?" Edward asked.

"Because of you guys. When you guys returned to Forks last time, you brought the werewolves back. I'm speaking for the pack. Leave, we don't want you here. You caused too much damage the last time you were here. The treaty is null." I said quietly.

"How is the treaty null, we never broke it." Edward said.

"You claim the Denali's aren't your family?" I asked.

"Of course, they are." Alice said.

"Well, one of the Denali's passed into La Push beach and hunted in Forks. That being said, the treaty no longer exists, and you aren't welcome here." I said.

"That isn't true; none of the Denali's would hunt a human." Emmett said.

"Oh, why don't you ask Irina if her mate wasn't Laurent? He told me that himself and had been planning on killing me when I destroyed him myself. I'm sort of shocked you guys aren't a pile of ashes yet. Leah knows as well as I do that the treaty no longer exists. We will not renew it either. You're the reason that there are four immortal werewolves. We will not allow anyone else to be cursed to this life." I said coldly.

"What do you mean immortal?" Alice asked.

"Us, the females, we can't age, we can't get pregnant, and we can't die. We can't even be killed by vampire venom like the males can. I've shot myself, I've thrown myself off of a cliff, I've been hit by cars, buses, and trains, I've tried to drown myself, and I've even set myself on fire. No matter what I do, I can't die. There are three more like me. I won't allow anyone else to end up like us." I said.

I refused to look Edward full-on; he was the man I still loved. He was the man I still wanted. I knew that it was impossible now. Everything about them screamed at me to destroy. It had been next to impossible when I was just a human, now there wasn't even that slight chance. Not that my feelings mattered, he never loved me.

The bell rang just then and I ran off to biology. I wanted them to stay, of course, I did. My emotions didn't matter though, they needed to leave. I couldn't let there be anymore female werewolves. He was a vampire and I was a werewolf. We were enemies now. We weren't family and I needed to stop thinking of them as family.

Once sixth hour was over I headed to my car. I had taken seventh as a free period, and I couldn't stay here any longer. It felt like it was 2005 with them being back. The only major difference was that in 2005 I hadn't been a werewolf. There were other smaller differences to, I hadn't liked fast and expensive vehicles (a taste I picked up from Jacob), my middle name hadn't been Isis (Marsha was the one who started calling me that), My hair hadn't been short (part of being a werewolf), I didn't have any expensive jewelry (a taste I got from Lynn), and I hadn't worn skimpy clothes (Part of me being a non-virgin). This wasn't 2005, this was 2094 and I wasn't a mere human. The love I still felt for Edward couldn't matter because it was beyond impossible. Even if he returned those feeling, I knew it could never happen, but he didn't love me anyway.

I drove home and headed inside. I seriously needed a drink.

Edward POV

I saw her head to her car and leave. I couldn't believe what my Bella was driving. Jasper had sensed Bella's emotions, and we now knew the truth. Though Bella had talked to us with a hard edge, she still loved us as family, and loved me as much more then family. I had already discovered that she had bought her dad's old place. Several of the kids at school had thought about it. I had noticed all of her differences, the close hair cut, the expensive jewelry, the scanty clothes, the new middle name, and the expensive car. If you could call what she drove a car, it was more like heaven on earth. I was going to go and see her after school.

_I'm coming with you, _Alice shouted in her mind.

I groaned inwardly, but I knew Alice deserved to come. I had forced Alice to leave once without any goodbyes, and I knew she wouldn't let me do it again. She'd come with me today whether I wanted her to, or not.

**A.N.: **I will put the newest Pagoni that is out on my profile. I also strongly recommend to never consume the amount of alcohol that I refer to in this story. How did I do? Please review.

**A.N. 2: **I would like to say that Five Years Later is complete. I thank all of you who have so far read it, and suggest that you do if you haven't yet.


	4. Discover

**A.N.: **Thank you for the reviews, alerts, and faves.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 4 – Discover

Alice POV

We had just arrived at Bella's house. We went to the front door and I was about to knock when Edward opened the door. We walked inside and found Bella standing in the kitchen with a grouping of liquors on the counter. She had a mixing glass in her hand.

"What are you doing?" Edward asked.

"Hello Edward, Alice", Bella said without looking at us. "I'm making a drink if you can't tell."

Edward began to move toward Bella, but I stopped him. _Edward, don't stop her. _I thought as I put a restraining hand on his arm. I didn't want Bella drinking alcohol either, but it was her life. She poured the drink into a glass and turned to look at us, or perhaps I should say me. She didn't as much as glance at Edward, instead hers eyes focused on me.

"To what do I owe this honor?" Bella asked sarcastically.

"We want to talk", I said quietly.

"Well, talk away, but if you don't mind I have to go to La Push in about two hours, so get it over with." Bella replied icily, and then downed the drink she had just made.

"Bella, I'm sorry." Edward said.

"Sorry", she spat. "Sorry, for what? For turning me into something that can never die. For having me fall in love with you. For leaving me. Well, sorry isn't good enough, not this time."

I was shocked by how angry she sounded. "How could I know?" Edward asked.

"Know what? For crying out loud finish your question, or don't say it. Just stop being so cryptic, I'm not in the mood." Bella said.

"How could we know that we were the reason for werewolves?" Edward asked.

Bella refused to look at him. Her eyes stayed on mine. "Like I care about your excuses, you were always blind. If you had ever stopped and looked around you would have seen the truth." She turned back to the counter. "It doesn't matter, what's done is done. My kind doesn't want you here." She said.

There was something strangely different about her. It wasn't her hair and I couldn't put my finger on it. Something in her looks had changed but I had no idea as to what.

"I read that you married Jacob." Edward said.

She didn't turn to look at us again. "Yeah, he and I are of the same species. It didn't matter though, in the end. He imprinted on someone else, it's why I left. I couldn't get pregnant and pass on the genes, so I was nothing. Not that I care." She started making another drink.

I didn't need Jasper here to tell me she was lying. Her 'so what' attitude was fake. It was obvious because she wouldn't look us straight on, and she was making another drink. "Bella stop", I said.

That made her look at me. That was when I realized what was different. Her eyes were flat. They didn't seem endless, they seemed lifeless. "Why should I stop?" Bella asked. "I could drink every bottle of liquor in this place, and I'd never die. I'd get drunk, I might get lucky and pass out, but never die. Besides you have no right to tell me what I can or can't do." She snapped. Then she returned to looking at the counter.

Edward realized the difference at the same time I did. "Your eyes", he barely breathed.

"Yeah, they don't look as pretty as they once did." She said.

"Do you know why?" I asked.

"I'm not one hundred percent certain. They first started changing back when you guys left. They still looked alright though. It was when Jacob imprinted that they went completely flat. I guess it has something to do with my heart being ripped into a thousand pieces two separate and distinct times. Not that it matters, the past is behind me where I left it." She said.

"I don't believe you", I said.

She still didn't look at us, and I finally got it. She didn't want to see Edward. "I have forgotten the bad blood. I have forgotten the past hurt. I have forgotten the damage done to my heart." She said icily.

"Look at me, Bella. I love you." Edward said quietly.

She froze. "You don't love me, you never loved me. If you value your life you'll never say it again." She went back to making her drink, moving her hands twice as fast.

"Bella, I love you." Edward said again.

She stopped making the drink and her hands started shaking. "Don't play innocent, Edward. You were the one who said you didn't want me. You were the one who left, not the other way around."

What? He told her that he didn't want her. I turned to glare at him. He hadn't mentioned telling her that. What the heck had he been thinking? My eyes narrowed at him, and he shrugged.

"It was a lie." Edward said quietly.

"No, you saying you loved me was the lie. I always knew you could never love me, but I was too innocent to see it. Well, I'm not an innocent child anymore, and now I see the truth." She said.

There were several minutes that passed in silence.

"Look I've got to go to La Push, and there's really nothing left to be said." She said and grabbed her keys. "You guys can show yourselves out." She stalked past us looking at the ground.

Bella POV

I drove to La Push going a hundred plus miles an hour. I was taking my anger out on the road. When I finally got to Embry's place I pulled to a stop. I got out of the car and headed to the door where I heard their argument.

"We should force them to leave or kill them." Leah said angrily.

"They might as well stay, the transformations have already started. It's too late to stop it now." Seth said.

"We don't have time for your tolerance, Seth." Leah snapped.

"No, Seth's right. They might as well stay. It's too late to stop the process. There will be at least ten people that change into werewolves. We just need to make sure that when they leave they never come back." Lynn said.

"Yeah, we give them an ultimatum. They can stay now, as it's too late to stop it, but if they ever return we'll kill all of them." A voice said. I was shocked to hear that voice. How was it possible that I return at the same time she does and the Cullen's? It was Marsha's voice.

"Perhaps if we force them to leave it will save others." Leah said.

"It didn't work the last time around. All of us were changed after the Cullen's left the last time. You know as well as I do, Leah, that the only one who was changed prior to them leaving was Sam." Embry said.

I walked in, and they all turned to see me. Embry had black hair and was 6'5". He was really quite skinny and didn't have near the muscle bulk as most male werewolves. Seth on the other hand had dirty blond hair, was around 6'2", and had all the muscle bulk that most of the males had. Then there was Lynn. Lynn had gray eyes, blue hair (yes it was her natural hair color. It wasn't blue like those people who dye their hair. It was actually black with a tint of dark blue.), was as muscular as the men, and was actually 6'4". She claimed that she was born the wrong gender, and with the way she looked it was quite believable. Leah had black hair, was around 5'7", and was skinny. In Leah's wolf form she was sleek, she wasn't muscular like Lynn, but she was really fast.

Last of all was Marsha. She wasn't a complete Quileute; her mother had been an Irish woman who had been studying in Egypt when her father met her mom. They had immediately connected and were married within the year. They had returned to La Push where she was born about a year later. Marsha was dark skinned like her father, but her eyes were blue and her hair was a white-blond that matched her mother's. She had changed when she was only fourteen and was only 4'11". What she didn't have in height and bulk she gained in speed and in intellect. She was easily the fastest of us, as well as the smartest.

When Marsha had first joined the pack she had said I was like Isis. She said that my hair color was the same as Isis, and she had showed me a painting that her family had owned. Isis not only had brown hair, but had endless brown eyes like I used to have. I had taken it as my middle name shortly after. Marsha had told me that there were other images of Isis as a blond, as having black hair, and even as a red head. Her eyes also varied in color, but the image she showed me was the image her mother and her preferred.

There was a sixth and a seventh person in the background. The first was a young red head, she seemed to be about ten or eleven years old. Her skin was white like mine. The other was around fifteen or sixteen years. He was dark skinned, brown eyes, black hair, and reminded me of Sam. Both of them had short hair.

"Hey guys", I said smiling.

**A.N.: **Okay, so how did I do? She still hasn't looked at Edward yet. I wonder who the new guys are. Please review.


	5. La Push

**A.N.: **As always I thank all of my fans.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 5 – La Push

Bella POV

"Hey Bella", Seth said. "What are you doing back in town?"

I smiled, "Hey punk", I said. "It looks like I'm taking care of unfinished business, though I actually came to Forks to reminisce old memories."

Marsha ran over to me and hugged me. "Bella, it's been far too long." She said excitedly.

"It has", I said. "Who are the newbies?" I pointed to the two I'd never seen before.

Leah spoke, "The male is Gary, he's Sam's grandson. The female is Nicole, she's Jacob's granddaughter."

I stopped cold as I heard Jacob's name. I looked Nicole over a lot closer. "You have your grandma's beauty, you should be quite proud. You have Jacob's eyes, though obviously part of you isn't Quileute. It's too bad you weren't around to meet them."

"Thank you; you were Jacob's first mate, right?" Nicole asked.

"I guess", I said. "How old are you, anyways?"

"I just hit my ninth birthday." She answered.

I turned to Lynn, "And she already changed?" I asked.

"Yeah, she already changed." Embry answered.

"I too have changed." Gary said.

"And how old are you?" I asked.

"Sixteen", he said.

"This has to end." I said.

"That's what I've been saying." Leah said. "We can't wait till they leave; god only knows what kind of mayhem that will reek. They need to either be destroyed or they have to leave, now."

I nodded, "Yes, they can't stay in Forks."

"No, there's no point in forcing them to leave. It's too late to stop the transformations." Lynn said.

Marsha looked at me, "You might not want them to leave." She said quietly.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"It's the reason I'm here. I imprinted." Marsha said.

My eyes zeroed in on hers, "You what?" I asked there was no fucking way I heard her right.

"I imprinted." Marsha said again.

"On who? Where is he?" I asked.

"Well he didn't come with me. You see I didn't imprint on a human. I, err, imprinted on a vampire." She said quietly.

I stared at her for a second, and then started laughing. "You're kidding right. They're our enemies; you realize that, don't you?" Marsha didn't respond. I turned to Leah, "She's kidding right?"

Leah looked straight back, "No, I've felt her imprint when she changed to a werewolf the last time. Unfortunately, it's true."

"How?" Was all I managed to get out.

"I don't know exactly." Marsha replied. "I was in Germany when I ran into a nomad called Alistair. It wasn't instantaneous like with the males, but the shift in emotions started immediately. It took about five minutes, but I haven't left his side since. Except now, I wanted you guys to know the news. We, the females, can imprint."

I suddenly got what Marsha was saying. "Why on earth do you think I'd need another tie to a man who doesn't return my feelings? I already gave him everything I had to give." I yelled.

"If you imprinted with him, he would love you back." Marsha said.

"I don't want to take away his choices." I said.

"You still love him." Marsha said.

"I'm over him." I growled.

"That not what your breath says. You don't think I can't smell the alcohol on your breath." Marsha snapped.

"You don't know what you're talking about." I shouted and stalked back outside.

Marsha–being her typical self–followed me out. "If that's true, then why are you running away, again?" She shouted.

A shudder ran through my body, and I spun on her. The shaking increased as I let the rage burn through me. I felt the fire run through my veins as the air shimmered around me and I morphed. My clothes shredded. I charged at Marsha, who changed in mid-air as she lunged through the air.

I went onto my hind legs and went to bite her. Just as she passed over me she flipped making it impossible for me to sink my teeth into her. Her coat was a shiny white and her body was small and slender. She landed behind me, and I whirled. She made another jump at me. She passed through the air above me and I bit her left hind leg. She didn't howl or whine; instead she bit into my neck really hard.

I dropped her leg and let out a howl of agony. _"Bella, just listen to me." _Her voice snaked across the barrier that closed my mind to all of her thoughts.

"_Why should I listen?" _I was now seething with rage.

"_Alistair told me that when a vampire falls in love they can't fall back out of love. They aren't like humans, their emotions don't just change. Based off of what you told me about Edward and what Alistair said, I can guarantee that Edward still loves you. If you imprinted on him, it would just make the bond that much stronger." _

I smelled the air, and was shocked. There was an unfamiliar scent in the air. I knew very well what Marsha smelled like, and the smell was different. Each of us had a separate and distinct nature based smell. Marsha had always smelled like morning dew. Though that smell was still there, she also smelled like daisies.

It reminded me of when I first met her. She had just turned thirteen. She hadn't been a werewolf yet, and her eyes had a light in them that I hadn't seen since. That was, until today. Back then her hair had an unearthly sheen, and she smelled like freshly cut daisies. She had been sent to a private school, because she was so smart and she had gotten a scholarship. She had returned a little over ten months later. The light in her eyes had disappeared, her hair had lost it's glean, and she no longer smelled like the daisies. Less than two months later she joined the pack. We had hit it off right away. We became best friends, because we were similar. We had both been broken. Though the way she had been broken made mine look even more pathetic then it already was. She had been raped while at the private school. Now that was all gone. The smell had returned, her eyes sparkled with life, and even in her wolf form her fur looked shiny.

Was this all because of her imprinting? I shook my head; I wasn't going to believe that he loved me. I knew better. The cold, dark voice and looks that he had the day he left told me all I needed to know. He didn't love me; he never had, and never will.

I had talked myself back into a rage. I lunged at Marsha.

**A.N.: **Did I mention that I love writing cliffhangers. I'm very evil aren't I? Please review.


	6. Werewolf

**A.N.: **Thank you for getting me over twenty reviews. I love you all. Thanks for the faves, alerts, and just for reading.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 6 –Werewolf

Marsha and I had gotten in many fights, and though I was both stronger and older she always defeated me. Not this time.

My lung landed me right in front of her and I ran my right front paw across her chest. I left four long and jagged scratches. She howled in agony as I hopped backwards. Suddenly Leah and Lynn both appeared at Marsha's sides in their wolf forms. Leah was thin, small, and had a sleek gray coat. Lynn on the other hand was the size of most male werewolves, and her coat matched her hair.

"_Stop it", _Leah ordered as her mental voice snaked over.

I growled and started pacing back and forth. I knew that there was no way I could defeat all three of them. I would have been lucky to defeat just Marsha. I could defeat Leah fairly easily, but Lynn on the other hand I had never defeated. She overpowered me in everything strength, speed, wit, and did I already mention strength (I did, too bad). There hadn't been anyone who could defeat Lynn. Another smaller werewolf showed up beside Leah. The wolf had a blazing red coat that reminded me of a fox. She was the smallest of us, and it was obvious that it was Nicole.

Right then the males joined. Seth had a sandy colored coat and was quite muscular. Embry had a gray coat similar to Leah's, but he had black spots that covered his back. Then there was Gary, Just like his grandfather Gary had a black coat.

"_Not fair", _I growled. I would have been lucky to defeat one, let alone seven.

Suddenly someone's thoughts hit me hard. _"Can two of us take them?" _she asked but the mental babble continued. _I seriously doubt it, but you never know. I wish I was more experienced. There would be a better fight, more fun._

I realized what had happened, Nicole had joined my pack. I remembered that Alex had joined my pack when he had changed. He had always been the outsider in La Push. No one knew who his parents were. He had been raised in an orphanage in Brazil, and the only thing he had of his family was photos of La Push. When he turned twelve he found his way to La Push. Three years later he joined the pack. Alex had become a werewolf only a month before Marsha. Alex had joined my pack, what had previously been a solo pack. Nicole had done it too.

She had automatically come over to my side. She looked at me, _"you know I can hear you, right?" _She thought.

"_Yeah I do, and no we don't have a chance at defeating them." _I replied.

"_How can you be certain?" _Nicole asked.

"_If Lynn wasn't with them I'd say we had a sporting chance, but no one can defeat Lynn." _I thought.

"_Of course she can be defeated." _Nicole responded.

I remembered back to that day when Lynn had gotten mad at Paul. It started out a one-on one fight until Paul let out a yelp of agony when she had bit in a very private place. Then all the pack was against her excluding Sam and me. I had decided to stay aloof from the fight. Sam had been down in Forks in his human form and was unaware of the fight. The fight finally ended when I stepped in and ordered them to quit. Seth had a broken leg, Embry had five broken ribs, Quil had broken his arm, Jacob had a broken pelvis, Alex had both of his legs broke, Collin had a broken arm and leg, Brady had a sprained back, Brandon had a broken collar bone, Jared had a long scratch across his chest, and she had knocked both Leah and Marsha out. Paul had almost all of his bones broke, lacerations on his neck, chest, legs, and arms, and was bitten in some very painful places. Lynn was undefeatable.

"_Why don't you just make an order?" _Nicole asked.

"_I can't, because Leah is there. I can only order members of another pack when their pack leader isn't there." _I thought.

I needed the others to hear my thoughts now, _"Why don't you guys go away so I can get my clothes out of my car." _I thought.

They all headed into the forest even Nicole. I had never gotten comfortable with the males seeing me naked, with two exceptions. The first had been Jacob, as we had slept together for quite sometime. The second had been Alex and I had two reasons for him. The first was that he had been part of my pack, the second he wasn't into females. We all believed that was the reason that he never imprinted.

I shifted back to my human form and went over to my trunk. I always kept clothes in my trunk just in case I ever did have to change on the fly. I pulled them out and put them on. A blue pair of shorts, a white tee, and white flip-flops made up my clothes.

About a minute later they all came out in their human forms wearing clothes, except for Marsha who–like me–had shredded her clothes, so she was still in her wolf form. Leah spoke, "Since I assume you are living in Forks for the time being you can tell the Cullen's that the treaty will remain intact till they leave. At which point, if they ever return we will destroy them all."

I nodded and got in my car. I returned home and was hit by the smell of Edward. What on earth was he still doing here? Hadn't I made it clear that they weren't welcome here, him specifically.

Edward POV

I heard Bella's vehicle return, and went to the door. I opened it for her, and once again she refused to meet my eyes. She went to the living room and sat down. Her smell hadn't changed that much to me. She still smelled like freesia, it was just that it didn't burn my throat like it once did.

"Bella, look at me." I commanded.

Bella didn't turn her head or look at me; instead she kept looking straight ahead. "I'm sorry, Edward." She whispered.

"Look at me", I begged.

She closed her eyes and shook her head, "I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because… because I might imprint on you. I can't risk it." I saw a tear run down her cheek.

I knew what an imprint was from the first time we had come here. If she did imprint on me then it would only prove that we were meant to be together. "I don't care if you imprint on me. I love you, Bella."

She shook her head again, "I won't do it."

I grabbed her cheeks and pulled her head around so that she'd have to look at me. Her eyes were closed, and I had this feeling that she would continue to be stubborn. "Bella, just look at me", I pleaded.

I was shocked and pleased when she did as I asked.

**A.N.: **Okay, so another cliffy. I didn't really plan on doing that, but I've made a vow that in this story I wouldn't switch the POV more then once a chapter. I want the next part in Bella's perspective so you're going to have to wait till my next update, hopefully that will be no more then two days. You never know, it might even be later today. The first lemon is soon.

**A.N. 2: **So I've got a challenge, the first three reviews I get–I don't care if you say its good or bad–can ask me any one question about any of my stories, or about me and I shall answer it. Here's what you do; you tell me what you think of my story (once again I don't care about the opinion), then after that you write your question on the review. Unfortunately you have to be signed for me to answer, because I will send you a personal message, and not write an author's note or review for the world to see.


	7. Imprint

**A.N.: **Thank you for the reviews, faves, alerts, and for reading.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 7 – Imprint

Bella POV

He was pleading with me to see if I could imprint on him. I couldn't deny him any longer I had to look at him. It was as much for my sake as it was for his. I needed to see his topaz eyes one more time. They had always been more beautiful then any of the other Cullen's. I opened my eyes and looked into his perfect golden eyes. There was a tingling deep within my mind and it slowly spread out. I could feel everything I already knew becoming more confirmed. I felt my love for him reignite, and felt all of my number-one priorities shift down to number-two. I could feel the gradual changes in my mindset.

A long time ago I had put the Cullen's and Edward in the back of my mind. I put the werewolves at the forefront of my mind. They became my number-one priority. I had vowed to protect my brothers and sisters at all cost, even if it had meant killing the ones who I had once thought of as family. Now I was imprinting on the very vampire who had broke my heart. The reason I had sworn off vampires, he was the reason I had given my heart to Jacob. I had gone to Jacob under the hopes of forgetting him. It had worked, but not as completely as I would have liked. When Jacob had imprinted on Selena it had destroyed what was left of my heart and my soul. The only two men I had ever truly loved both left me and in return I left Forks behind. I became a drinker, as well as one of the richest women alive. I never forgot my vow though, I never forgot what my once family had done to me.

Now all of that didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was him. I was his and only his. It had run through my whole body. I now knew where I belonged. My heart beat for him, my mind kept me alive for him and him only. This was my life now, and I didn't care about the past. I loved him more then I ever had.

He pulled his hands from my cheek and gently put his right hand under my chin. He seemed to know that I had imprinted on him, though I wasn't certain how he knew. He gently began to kiss me. It was a soft whisper at first, and then suddenly more forceful. My mouth opened going past the careful line we had always kept. I knew I shouldn't do it, that I should wait till he's ready, but I needed more. Apparently he needed it to, because his tongue went into my mouth.

The kiss had changed from soft and gentle, to strong and beautiful, and now to a deep, forceful passion that was making my heart pound forcefully in my chest. His left hand tangled in my hair keeping my lips locked with his. His right moved from my chin to the small of my back bowing my body. He pressed me urgently against the couch. His chest stayed pressed to mine the whole time, and it forced my shirt to ride up to my bosom.

This was a different Edward; this was an Edward who didn't have to be afraid of hurting me or even killing me. I was as strong as him, and was as indestructible as him perhaps more. His mouth got more passionate against mine and I let out a quiet moan. His hands moved from their positions on my body and went to the hem of his shirt, and then he pulled it off. I placed my hands on my tee and pulled it the rest of the way off. I didn't have a bra on so it revealed my breasts.

Edward's eyes shined as he saw this part of me. I realized now that what Marsha had said was true, and that he always had loved. I briefly wondered for how long he had fantasized of seeing me like this, but I quickly forgot my curiosity. His hands had moved down to my hips and he gently undid the single button on my shorts.

"Do you want this?" Edward asked.

Edward was always a gentleman, but sometimes I swore he was an idiot. Did I want this? What was he thinking? I thought about saying 'fuck yeah' or 'hell yes' two very appropriate lines if it had been Jacob. That had been where I picked up the foul language in the first place. This wasn't Jacob though and I knew it. Perhaps I should stop this and explain to him the rules of an imprint. It really didn't matter what I did or didn't want; it was about him. If he didn't want to make love then I would stop, but at least part of me was still a sex driven teenager, and I wanted this. Hell, I needed this.

I could tell him a thousand different answers, but I did the simple one, and as I had learned from my years of traveling it was also the seductive one. "Yes", I barely breathed. Edward's eyes blazed with a fierce passion, and I knew it had worked.

He gently pulled my shorts off, and moved back to kissing me. He pressed his body against mine, and I felt his erection straddling his pants. I let him take his time. If he wanted to be slow then so could I. I needed him really bad, but I knew he was mine and that offset the urgency. I moaned again as his kiss got even more insistent.

He gently pulled away from me and undid his pants. He pulled them off and went back to kissing me. He was hovering over me, as if he was still uncertain of if he should do this. I knew I wasn't drunk anymore, but he was intoxicating me. What was it he once told me, that I was intoxicated by his very presence; it was truer than ever. That was why I was having an opposing conscience. The demon on my left was telling me to help him a long, and the angel on my right was telling me to let him take his time.

I would wait till he went into me. It was the right thing, and I would forget about the other part of my conscience. That part of me was the part that Jacob had instilled in me. I recognized that part well; it was the part that had led my life for many years. The cursing, the drinking, the one-night stands, the daredevil, and the expensive taste were all things that I had gained from Jacob. I knew that those parts of me would always be there to, but I was going to do as the better side of my conscience advised and wait.

Edward's right hand slid under the small of my back and his left once again intertwined in my hair. I knew he was about to go into me, so I let out another sensual moan. He pressed himself against me and his erection gently went into me. My body would belong to no one other then him now. He slid in and out of me and my hips moved gently along with him.

He was making love to me gently and slowly. I wanted him to do this his way, and I loved this romantic pace. I knew it wouldn't stay like this for long though. His movements were timed perfectly with the motions of his mouth against me. I moaned again, this time managing to actually get a word out. "Edward", was all I managed.

He suddenly changed to a fiery, insistent, and passionate pace. I increased my speed to match his, and he moaned. It was the first time I had heard him make a noise of pleasure, but then again I had barely recognized my own. My muscles took me over and I arched into him.

I was beginning to shake and knew I was very close to my climax. I was soon going to be at my all-time high of sexual pleasure. I kept on moving with him but it was more instinct then actual mental knowledge.

I felt the strong orgasm take over my body and I let out a loud moan. I barely heard Edward make a similar sound. I was only halfway in my mind from all the pleasure that was in my body. It finally came to an end and somehow we ended up so that I was lying on top of him where I fell asleep.

**A.N.: **So did I do alright? I sure hope so. As always, _**PLEASE REVIEW I'M BEGGING YOU!!!**_

**A.N. 2: **I will take two more reviews with any question about one of my stories or me and personally answer it. You do have to be signed for me to answer though, sorry.


	8. Trouble

**A.N.: **Thank you, thank you, thank you

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 8 – Trouble

Edward POV

I had watched Bella silently sleep all through the night. She hadn't talked in her sleep the whole night. Finally morning came and Bella woke up. She moved off of me delicately and gracefully. Then she turned and looked at me with a smile on her face.

"Come on", Bella said quickly. I got up and followed her. We went up to her bedroom. She went over to the dresser and opened the bottom drawer. She then quickly pulled out a green tee and a pair of blue jeans and tossed them to me.

"You have men's clothes?" I asked as I dressed.

She went to the closet, "Yeah, when I lived in La Push I got used to having male clothes between Jacob and Alec, one of them always needed something." She said chuckling.

I recognized Jacob's name and had fair reasoning to be jealous of him, after all he had been married to Bella. It wasn't Jacob I was Jealous of though, it was Alex. I had never heard his name before, and knew that I really didn't have any right to be jealous, but I was. "Who's Alex", I growled.

"Alex was the only member of my pack. You really shouldn't be jealous, he wasn't into me." She said dismissively.

"_Of course,_ he isn't into you", I said sarcastically.

Bella turned around to look at me, "He really wasn't. He was gay." She said harshly.

I caught onto something then, she was using the past tense, and not the present. "Was?" I asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, Alex died a little over a year ago, and none of us understand how. We don't know how he died, or if he was killed. I remember the day clearly even though I wasn't in my wolf form. There was a spiking of pain in my body when it had occurred, and I knew long before it was confirmed by Embry that Alex was dead. Embry's another werewolf by the way."

With each word her voice had saddened, even though she had returned to getting stuff from the closet. She had put on a baby pink sundress and white slingback stilettos. I went over to her and hugged her. She pulled away smiling, and then she went over to a desk that was under the window I used to sneak in by. On the desk was a medium sized jewelry box which she promptly opened. I walked over to her and looked inside. There were necklaces, bracelets, anklets, brooches, and earrings of all designs inside. They all had gems and were made of gold, platinum, and silver. I could tell from the way they gleamed that they were all real. The lid had opened outward and revealed two ring trays; in the first were rings that like the rest of her jewelry were of all designs. The second had only two rings in it. The first was a dainty gold wedding band, and the second was an engagement ring. The engagement ring was simple, a thin band with a small diamond protruding, I would bet the diamond wasn't even half of a karat. I was certain that they were from her and Jacob's marriage.

Her thoughts seemed to be in line with mine, "You know, I never divorced Jacob. Not that it matters now, Jacob died five years ago." She pulled an amethyst ring from the other tray and put it on her right ring finger. She continued by grabbing a drop diamond necklace which she put on. Then she closed the box.

I realized something, Jacob wasn't rich, the engagement ring proved that. How did she have a ten million dollar vehicle? How could she afford Jenks's expensive prices? How did she have designer clothes? How did she have expensive jewelry? How could she afford any of it? "Bella, how do you have all this? I mean how can you afford it?" I asked.

She went over to a mirror and did a quick comb through of her hair. She didn't answer my question, "You know I miss my long rich hair. Sometimes when I wake up I think I'll look in the mirror and see my full length hair, but then as I completely wake up I remember it's been short for all too many years." She paused for a minute, "I used to keep it longer, but after I left La Push and Forks behind I started cutting it shorter. I found that I had to cut it to often when I had the pageboy hair cut." We went down to the kitchen, as I wondered why she wasn't answering the question. She pulled a bottle of Canada Mist out of an upper cabinet. Then she continued to grab a small glass cup which she filled with ice, and then she poured the liquor. Bella didn't down it like she had with the drink she had made yesterday; instead she gingerly sipped at it. "You want to know where I got the money. Well, it all started after I left Forks. I ended up in a bar in Manhattan, and met a rich fool who thought I was a prostitute; he paid me a hefty sum for that one night. I left New York shortly after that and went to England. I ended up doing two music albums in Europe before I moved on again. I still get paid royalties for my music. I headed to Africa where I spent several years on the stage acting, and once again I still get paid royalties. I went to Asia after that where I got my shot at modeling. It was sometime in Asia that I picked up heavy drinking. I eventually headed to Australia, and then most recently I headed to South America where I've been for the last thirty-odd years." She finished the drink.

She had been a singer, an actress, and a model. I couldn't wrap my head around it. "Come on, we've got to get to school." Bella said. I went and put my shoes on, and then headed outside where she was waiting.

I looked over the Pagani, "Can I drive?" I asked.

She pursed her lips for a moment, "No way", and then she got in the driver's side.

Bella POV

School passed slowly, until lunch when I got to see Edward again. I went straight to their table and sat down. We talked for several minutes until Lynn burst through the door. Everyone looked up and was shocked, several teachers followed Lynn in.

"Bella", Lynn said.

I got up and went over to her. "What happened?" I asked.

"It's bad, Seth is missing, Gary might be dead, Marsha disappeared, and Leah's injured." Lynn rushed.

We couldn't talk in here. I grabbed Lynn's hand and pulled her outside. I stopped briefly to talk to one of the teacher's, "I'm sorry for this disturbance, she's my cousin and is slightly mental." We headed to the parking lot, and the Cullen's followed. "Now, talk", I said.

"Everything was dark… It was bloody… Something dragged off… I was…" She said incoherently.

"Calm down", I ordered using my Alpha voice.

Lynn took a deep breath. "I don't know exactly what happened. We were all just outside talking, having fun. Then something attacked us, and it wasn't a vampire, I don't think. It was powerful, and none of us could land an attack, except Nicole. She managed to bite the creature, whatever it was. It landed a hit on Gary and Gary landed against a rock. When I left he was bleeding really hard. Marsha disappeared somewhere in the battle, and Seth was dragged off by the creature. Leah was knocked out. Nicole changed back to her human form and seemed to be in shock when I left. Embry is alright and is tending to Gary and Leah."

"What did it look like?" I asked.

"I don't know, it was like something was obscuring its physical form, and we couldn't make out any of it. I think Nicole saw some of it though, she had a thought that snaked over to us, and it was something about 'the eyes'. That was all she said." Lynn said.

I knew I had to get there and fast. My car wouldn't be fast enough for this.

**A.N.: **What could the creature possibly be? Am I bringing yet another mythical creature into my story? Or is Lynn wrong? Please review.


	9. Vampire

**A.N.: **Thank you for the faves, alerts, reviews, and for just reading it.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 9 – Vampire

Alice POV

Bella promptly dragged Lynn off into the woods, and we followed. Once they were in the cover of the trees they stripped. Then a shaking went through both of them and they changed. Lynn was a large black wolf with sparks of a deep blue running through her fur. Bella had brown fur, and it was a deep shimmering color. They both took off running Lynn was faster. We followed even though we knew that they were going to La Push. Bella was still our family, and none of us would allow Bella to be hurt.

We ended up outside of La Push where they phased back, and put their clothes back on. We all went to the clearing where there were four werewolves. The first of them I noticed was the one in his or her wolf form, it was a small gray wolf who was breathing, yet it was obviously unconscious. Then there were two men both currently in their human forms, the one was tending to the other. The last was a small girl who was huddled against a rock, she had no clothes on.

"Lynn, wake Leah up, now. I don't care if you have to dump a bucket of ice on her, she needs to wake up. Embry, go get Nicole some clothes, now. Gary, how are you doing?" Bella ordered.

Embry immediately left, and Lynn went over to Leah. "I'm…" Gary winced, "Alright."

"Good, change back to your wolf form and circle the forest. If you see or smell anything, howl." Bella said. Then Bella went over to Nicole.

The clearing was a hectic mess. There were shreds of clothes throughout the clearing, obviously Nicole's. Rocks had been strewn, and branches were layering the edges. Bella sniffed at Nicole, and jumped back.

"Lynn, come here and smell Nicole. Tell me if you recognize the scent. I'll wake Leah up." Bella said, and went over to Leah. Lynn cautiously walked toward Nicole, as Bella pinched Leah's nose. After about a second Leah's paw swiped up to hit Bella but she jumped back. Leah got up then and looked around. Her eyes zeroed in on us, and then she headed into the forest.

"It _was_ a vampire", Lynn said.

"That's not what I'm asking. I want to know does it smell familiar, like perhaps we've smelled the vampire before." Bella said.

"It wasn't one of us." Jasper immediately said.

"No, duh, Sherlock Holmes, you guys were at school, so obviously it wasn't any of you. Unless one of you has an ability Bella didn't know about." Lynn said.

Just then three werewolves came out in their human forms. Bella looked up at them, "Seth, are you alright? Marsha, why did you disappear? Leah, it's good to see you on your feet."

"I'm fine." Seth said.

"I left to see if I could surprise the vampire. I've smelled the vampire before, though I can't place where. When it got to where I was waiting it was dragging Seth. I fought it, and just as I was making head way the vampire took off." The female I assumed was Marsha said.

Bella started pacing, "That sounds familiar. Attack and feint that was how Victoria fought remember."

"That's impossible, we killed Victoria." Seth said.

"Maybe we didn't", Bella said.

"What do you mean?" Leah asked.

"Think about it. It was Collin, Brady, and Alex who supposedly killed her. All three are now dead, and I remember what Alex always said. I don't care if he was in his human or his wolf form he always answered the exact same. 'She's dead.' I remember talking to Sam and he told me that Brady and Collin said the same. They never said anything different about it, perhaps they lied." Bella said.

"They wouldn't lie about that." Leah said.

"Perhaps they had no choice", Nicole quietly said.

We all turned to look at Nicole who had changed into her clothes. I hadn't realized Embry had returned, but he was standing behind Nicole. Bella shook her head, "No, that doesn't make sense. Victoria doesn't have any such ability, I would no if she did."

"How would you know?" I asked. This conversation was getting more confusing by the second, and it wasn't helping that I couldn't see a thing. All the stuff with the werewolves was completely blank. I couldn't see hardly any of our future as it suddenly seemed like we'd be spending a lot of time with them.

"Because immediately after I left La Push and Forks I hunted Victoria. I hunted her for almost two years. She returned to Forks at that time, and about a month later Alex told me that 'she's dead'. He never elaborated. About a year and a half later Brady and Collin died. I'm one hundred percent certain that she didn't have an ability of manipulation." Bella said.

"Just because you followed her doesn't mean she didn't have that ability." Jasper said.

"I know she didn't, because I know what her ability is." Bella said.

"What is it?" I asked. Edward nodded next to me.

"She has an ability to escape. It seems like something is in her head that tells her when it's too dangerous, and where the easiest path of escape is." Bella said.

"Is it possible for her to have more then one ability?" Nicole asked.

"Impossible", Marsha said dismissively.

"Unheard of", Lynn agreed.

"Not possible", Seth chimed in.

Bella looked from Nicole back to us several times. "It's not probable, but it is possible." Bella said.

Leah narrowed her eyes at Bella. "How would you know?"

Yeah, how would Bella know?

Bella POV

I laughed. "I traveled the world remember. Whilst I was in Europe I met several covens. Let's just say that I met a vampire who had more then one ability. So, like I said, it's improbable, but not impossible."

"If Victoria is still alive what do we do?" Leah said.

There would be no we. I was the one she would still be after; I would be the one to kill her. "Nothing, we wait and see. After all there's a chance we're wrong, and I will not have us chasing after a ghost."

"I don't believe that's a good idea. I think we should attack while she might be weakened." Leah said.

"Enough Leah, you've been overruled." I said my voice taking on a dark menacing edge. When Sam had decided to stop phasing he had wanted them to join my pack, but I had told him that it would be better if they had another leader. All of them knew that I was the real leader.

**A.N.: **Victoria's back, Victoria's back, Victoria's back. There isn't such a thing as a good story without an evil villain. Isn't it strange that the ones who supposedly defeated her are all now dead? Please review.


	10. Memories

**A.N.: **Thank you, thank you, thank you

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 10 – Memories

Bella POV

I was now back at my house, and Edward wasn't. I was reminiscing, and remembering. I thought to myself that shouldn't these memories be forbidden now. I thought that they shouldn't hurt me so anymore, but they still did. There were three memories in specific that I always remembered.

_Memory 1:_

I was at school. It was my first day back after I was turned into a werewolf. Mike was being his usual pestering self. School had just got out and I went to my old truck. I hadn't cut my hair yet; I had refused to believe it had happened. I kept on telling myself I wasn't a werewolf, but in my heart I knew that I was. I could feel the differences, the stronger senses, the extra strength, the extra speed, and perhaps most of all was my grace. I shouldn't be graceful, yet I was.

I walked to my truck and the annoying Mike Newton was leaning against my bumper. He was probably going to ask if I wanted to go on a date, again. What would it make; the twelfth time that month. Yet, it didn't slow my approach, and I was actually looking forward to it. For the first time since Edward left I wanted to go on a date. I wanted to feel passion.

I headed straight to him, and he was cocky just like always. "I was wondering if maybe you would come over and help do my science homework?" He asked.

This was a new line. He always asked if I wanted to go see a movie, or if I wanted to go eat. The line was different, but extremely readable. English translation: Do you want to hook up? What the hell? What was I waiting for? A man that I could never be with, a man that didn't love me. What was the point? I knew the answer, there was none.

"Sure, when should I come over?" I said.

Mike's jaw dropped, he wasn't expecting me to say yes. I stopped myself from chuckling. "Anytime you want", he stammered trying to get himself together.

"How about I follow you home?" I suggested.

He nodded and went to his car. I followed him home, pushing the internal limits of the old beat up truck. We parked and went to his room. We spent a few minute doing the science homework. He needed absolutely no help with the worksheet and it proved what he really wanted to do.

"Can I give you a thank you kiss?" He asked.

If I had still been human, if Edward had still been around I would have told him to get lost. Neither of those things were still there for me. I gave a little nod. He moved his mouth to mine, and gently kissed me. Then he got rougher and more violent. It felt good. I kissed back and accepted his tongue.

Soon enough he had undressed both of us and we were on his bed. He was hovering over me, and I was quivering. No, he wasn't my knight in shining armor, my prince on a white stallion, but for one night I didn't care. Edward had once told me that he was just going to let the chips fall where they may, and that was exactly what I was doing.

He entered me and there was a sharp pain, but in some strange way it felt good. I had lost my innocence, not to the man I wanted for sure, but I could never have that man. The odds of having Edward had been a million to one even before I had changed into a werewolf; I knew that there was absolutely no chance at all now.

Mike began to move in and out of me and I let my instincts take over. I moved with him and moaned. "More", I begged of Mike. He was more then eager to do as I requested. The sensations took over my body. "Hold me tighter", I moaned. At the time it didn't matter who it was, all I knew was that I needed more of him, not only in me but on me as well. Mike was quick to respond and put his hand on the small of my back so that he held me against him. I came and hard. I shook really hard as my climax took over my body.

It was late in the evening when I finally left, and that night I cut my hair. I had always let Jacob believe that I lost my virginity to him. I never told a soul about my one-night stand with Mike. I don't even think Alex knew.

_Memory 2:_

I was dressed in a white buckskin dress, and was standing on the beach. It was the matrimonial dress of a La Push Indian. We had just finished our vows and were now celebrating. We had followed the old time Quileute rules to the book. That being said, my right wrist was currently tied to his left wrist. I had to admit the ceremony, the hokey dancing, the strange traditions were fun. I had not been allowed to wear a veil, as well as many other things.

It had been happy and fun all day, until my dad ruined it. "I'm glad to see you with a real man, Bella, he's much better for you then Edward was."

Everyone believed I was completely over Edward, except Jacob. Jacob realized that I probably never would be entirely over Edward, but Jacob accepted me with my faults. I couldn't hold back a brief grimace at my father's words though. Yes, it was supposed to be the happiest day of my life, but it was suddenly the worst. Edward was the reason I had waited so long to marry Jacob, because in truth I was still waiting on my night in shining armor.

_Memory 3:_

I had worked the early patrol, and Jacob was working the mid shift. He should have been home an hour prior starving and ready to eat, but he didn't arrive. I was worried about him, he shouldn't be late. I hadn't heard any of the wolves howling an alert so I was fairly certain that there hadn't been an attack and that he wasn't dead. I was worried though.

Jacob finally arrived home, and I saw it immediately. His eyes shown with a light I had seen in Sam, Jared, Paul, and Quil. It was the light of one who had imprinted. I didn't talk, I didn't ask, I didn't smile, and I didn't go to him. I went to our bedroom, packed a duffle bag, and left.

I went to Marsha's and sobbed on her bed the whole night. The next morning I left La Push and Forks without a word. I didn't return.

**A.N.: **Well you guys got a brief look in some of Bella's history. It was sort of reprise, I hope you enjoyed it. Please review.


	11. Cullen's

**A.N.: **Thank you, thank you, thank you

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 11 – Cullen's

Bella POV

It was finally Saturday and I was going to visit the Cullen's. Why was I putting myself through this again? For that question I had no answer. Would this time be different? I certainly hoped so. Were they once again my family? This was the hard question to answer. In truth, they had never stopped being my family; I had just managed to harden myself over the years. I was now imprinted to Edward and knew in all technicality that he at least was my family, even if the rest weren't. I knew that I would never be to far from him, even if he didn't want me as a mate, I would still watch over him.

I believed Edward would want me to be his mate though. He finally couldn't hurt me and I wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. I drove the route to the Cullen's place and parked out front. I didn't even open the door of my car when Jasper appeared on the front porch.

"You better get inside before Alice gives one of us a heart attack." He exclaimed.

I laughed, "You guys are vampires, you can't have a heart attack."

"They might not be able to, but if Alice doesn't calm down I certainly might be able to." Jasper said.

I came up the stairs and we went inside. Alice pounced on me before I had a chance to prepare myself. Esme and Carlisle sat on the couch, Emmett and Rosalie were on the loveseat, and Edward was sitting on the chair. Alice was my immediate concern however. Her arms were wrapped around my neck in a chokehold, and I did need to breath. I grabbed one of her arms and flipped her off of me. She hit the floor rather hard, and then looked up at me.

"Please refrain from cutting off my airways, unlike you I need to breathe." I said grimacing as I put my hand to my throat.

Alice laughed, "You told us you couldn't die."

"Well, I've never tried suffocating myself, though I have hung myself, twice. I don't know if it would kill me or just make me unconscious for several hours. When I forced myself to drown I ended up waking up on the beach about two days later. That being said I suppose it wouldn't kill me, I just would be unconscious for a while." I said thoughtfully.

Edward was sickened as he heard of how many times I tried to kill myself. Carlisle on the other hand was interested. "How many ways have you tried to die?"

"Of course there was the first time I was bit by a vampire. That sure as hell was painful. Then there were my theatrics with running in front of vehicles. I tried a motorcycle, car, van, truck, bus, and train. None of which killed me, though the train was interesting. I woke up a little over a day later in a morgue. I'm sure the mortician had a hard time explaining how a body got up and walked away. I've thrown myself off of cliffs on several different occasions, and though I've had many broken bones I have yet to die. I tried to drown myself as I already mentioned, and tried to hang myself. I've shot myself in several different places, and that was to no avail. The last thing I did was a fire escapade. That was almost twelve years ago, and it wasn't really a suicide mission. A kid was stuck in the building and I went in to rescue the child. The smoke got to thick and I couldn't breathe. When I woke up I was under a thick pile of debris. Of course you could always consider my reckless drinking a trait to the suicide list to, though none of them worked." I said.

"The venom was painful, but it didn't change you and it didn't kill you. I wonder how much venom your system can take." Carlisle said.

"It really can't change me that much. When I am in my wolf form I can eat raw food. I have hunted deer and other animals. I take in their blood when I eat in that form. As for how much venom, I can say quite a bit. Marsha was bit three different times during one of our fights, and she is as healthy as ever. The venom just hurts like hell is all." I said.

Edward had gotten more and more stiff as I had explained all my suicide missions. "Why were you trying to kill yourself?" Jasper asked.

"Because I was broken, and I had nothing left to live for. Marsha was the same as me, if not worse. She attempted suicide missions on a day to day basis. After I was changed into a werewolf life went downhill rather fast. Schooling of any type became my last priority. I'd go to school in the morning and almost immediately after school was out, for the rest of the day I'd be scouting. Until I graduated from high school I was sleeping on average less than four hours a day. Jacob and I proceeded in our relationship quickly, and come what should have been my twentieth birthday I married him. The pack, my brothers and my sisters, became my main priority. After eighteen years of marriage Jacob found Selena the woman he imprinted on. I left and without Jacob my life went downhill fast, he was the one who was there for me after you guys left. I started pulling the stunts hoping I could find the grave, but they never worked." I said.

"How could he just leave you after being together for almost twenty years?" Alice asked.

"He didn't leave, I did. I had been waiting for him to come home and he was late. When he finally returned I saw it in his eyes immediately. I left without a word. I am quite sure that if I had stayed Jacob would have been a gentleman and stayed with me. I wasn't about to let that happen, he shouldn't have had to stay with me when he no longer loved me. You see, for men at least, when they imprint all of their past loves become completely null and void. It pretty much made the whole marriage pointless." I explained.

"You say 'for men at least', what do you mean by that?" Carlisle asked.

"I haven't been able to talk to Marsha about this yet, but for me at least when I think of Jacob and Alex it still brings a lot of pain. That could just be part of my mental quirk though." I said.

"Who's Alex?" Rosalie asked.

"He was the only werewolf in my pack. Alex was the second to last werewolf that changed, Marsha was the last. Even though Alex and I were only five years difference in age I always thought of him as a son. It wasn't really feasible for him to be a member of the other pack, so he joined mine." I said.

"Why couldn't he be part of the other pack?" Jasper asked.

"He was gay and there were ten male werewolves in the other pack. It would have been too uncomfortable for them to have him as a part of their pack. When we phase on the fly we often times destroy our clothes. It was also easier for him because–like me–Alex was an outsider." I explained.

"Did Alex ever imprint?" Emmett asked.

"No, I don't think that's even possible. A gay has never joined before Alex, so we have absolutely no experience in that area. It's hard to say if he eventually would have imprinted as he died last year. Before you ask, none of us know how he died, he just did." I said and then I went over to Edward and sat down on his lap.

"Do you know how you turned into a werewolf?" Carlisle asked.

"Well, it's a genetic trait. It also happens from extreme rage and depression. I've never done a full historical background check, but I assume somewhere way back there Charlie was related to the Quileute's. The main reason I changed was because of the pressure I was under. Jacob hadn't talked to me for almost a week and so I had went to find the meadow Edward took me to. To my shock I found it, and then Laurent found me. I was certain I was going to die, and something just snapped. I morphed and attacked. Laurent was too shocked to run or to even fight back. I tore off his head before I really realized what I was doing; when I finally realized what I was doing I booked it. I don't know how long I ran before I finally phased back and fell to the forest floor." I paused and chuckled, "A few hours later Jacob found me, and he had clothes in his arms which he handed to me without a word."

**A.N.:** Sort of a repetitive chapter, sorry. Please review.


	12. Relaxing

**A.N.: **Thank you, thank you, thank you

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 12 – Relaxing

Edward POV

It had taken me forever to get Bella up to my bedroom. Carlisle, Jasper, and Alice had quizzed her for hours and it was mostly on her inability to die. They had talked over all of the pack members. I had remained detached from most of the conversation. Finally I had managed to lead Bella into my bedroom and had sat her on my daybed. It wasn't the old leather couch I used to have, but after I left Bella I preferred to "sleep" quite often. Bella was tense as she sat on the bed.

The top she currently had on was sleeveless so her shoulders were bare. "Relax", I said quietly. I put my hands on her shoulders and began massaging.

"Easy for you to say", She mumbled.

I smiled, "I love you, now relax, and don't make me say it a third time."

"It's hard to relax when I know that I should be doing something about Victoria."

I was glad that I could use a lot more of my strength and not hurt her; I pressed my hands harder into shoulder blades trying to force her to relax. "Victoria isn't your concern."

"Yes she is the pack wouldn't have been attacked if Victoria wasn't after me."

"Speaking of the pack would you like to explain why I couldn't hear Nicole's thoughts?" I said trying to distract her. I didn't like the idea of her fighting a vampire, least of all Victoria.

"That's easy; Nicole is part of my pack which means that, at least, in a sense, she shares my mind." She said and then she sighed as she moved toward me.

She was finally relaxing into my massage. "Do you still think I should have changed you?"

"Yes, we'd be the same then."

"But it's really hard to kill vampire."

"There are ways though, and besides if I had been a vampire we would have stayed together. It was because I had lost you, I had lost myself and my soul; that I wanted to die. I don't even think it's possible for me to die."

I continued rubbing her shoulders and she sighed again. It was haunting how easily she spoke of death and how she had wanted it.

"It's not that scary anymore, you know. If I thought there was even the slightest chance that something could kill me I wouldn't talk about it so easily, but I don't believe there is a way. Death has become more like a haunting fiction that doesn't exist. Marsha was worse then me, her attempts often left her unconscious for days. Leah and Lynn have also made several attempts. Leah was more for the gun, and since I've tried it to, I know that a bullet doesn't work. Lynn on the other hand was extreme, she got together the money to go skydiving, she freefell and survived. None of us really wanted to live for all eternity. Lynn is currently with Embry, but she realizes that all it would take is Embry seeing the right female and then that relationship would be over. Once upon a time talking about death scared me, but now it just seems like a fictitious nightmare."

"Can you hear my thoughts?" I wondered aloud as I continued to rub her shoulders.

"Not exactly, it's just one of the many strange things that happen in an imprint. We can usually sense what our other half wants and needs. Seth could explain it better than me. He's been the overly abused nanny for the past five years and could explain how her needs and wants outweigh his own. Often times he gives her what she wants before she even asks. It's just the way an imprint works."

"So if that's the case then you don't mind if I remove this shirt." I said. Even though we'd slept together I still felt like I had to be certain. I moved my hands down to the bottom of her shirt, but she suddenly turned around so that she was facing me.

"Seriously Edward, you don't have to ask for my permission. You're not exactly defiling a virgin, and besides that, I stopped ageing when I was only eighteen. I have pretty close to the same hormones that any teenager has." She said. She then proceeded to remove her shirt.

"I just guess that I forget that you aren't the weak human you once were."

"What you mean, is that you forgot that I'm not as innocent as I once was." She said and then she turned back around.

I returned to massaging moving down her back, "You still aren't relaxing."

"Sorry, I just feel like something's going to happen. I'm sort of waiting on Lynn or Marsha to burst in your guys' front door. I can't shake the feeling that something that isn't very good is going to happen really soon. Nicole is the youngest change we've ever had occur, she's only nine and I know that can't be a good thing. The fact that none of them recognized Victoria also scares me. It makes me wonder…" She trailed off, and then continued, "I don't know."

"You need to relax." I said.

She sighed again and scooted against me, I wrapped my arms around her bare chest. Her hot temperature didn't bother me, in matter of fact it felt quite comfortable. She leaned her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes.

Suddenly a piercing howl filled the air.

**A.N.: **Evil Jade, I made another cliffhanger. I have a tendency to do that, don't I? I can't let the story get to relaxing, can I? I wonder what Bella was going to say when she trailed off. Can you guess? Please review.


	13. Newcomers

**A.N.: **Thanks a million.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 13 – Newcomers

Bella POV

A piercing howl filled the air.

I did the first thing that I could think of, I opened Edward's bedroom window, and launched myself out of the window. I morphed halfway to the ground and landed on all fours. I immediately sensed Nicole's mind.

'_Who howled', I didn't really recognize the sound of the howl, but then again I'm still new._

"_Stop the mental babble, and I didn't recognize it either', _I thought. _'Where are the others anyways?'_

'_Leah and Seth went to the Makah reservation for the day because Karly's visiting her father today and he lives on the Makah res. Lynn and Embry decided to go shopping in Seattle, and Marsha took Gary to go see a film in Port Angeles.'_

'_They left you in La Push, by yourself while Victoria is nearby.' _What the hell was Leah thinking?

We finally met each other half way to where the howl came from; the Cullen's weren't far behind us as we headed to the sound. _'Can we lose the stinkin' vampires?' _Nicole thought.

'_No, as I'm imprinted to Edward he'll probably follow me everywhere.'_

'_Isn't that supposed to work the other way around.' _

I chuckled, which came out as a yipping. We finally found our way to the werewolf. It turned out to be two. Two identical werewolves, I'd never seen such a thing before. Even Gary looked slightly different from his grandpa, but these two had identical features. They both had silver coats that flared with streaks of black, brown, red, and yellow. They were small (smaller then Nicole) and both had gray opaque eyes.

I sent an order over the barrier of my mind, _'Join me.'_

I instantly felt two more minds join mine. They were females and their minds seemed linked.

'_I'm scared',_ the first thought.

'_What the heck are we', _the second thought.

'_What are your names?' _I asked.

'_My name's Chrysalis', _the first thought.

'_And mine is Esmeralda', _the second thought.

Their mental voices had slight differences. Esmeralda's voice was higher pitched and reminded me of vampires, Chrysalis's voice was quieter and more intone to nature. They seemed extremely young.

'_How old are you guys?' _I asked

'_Well, we were celebrating our seventh birthday a little over an hour ago when, I don't know. Suddenly we were running through the forest, and we became, uh, what are we anyway?' _Chrysalis thought.

'_Your werewolves', _I let out a loud resounding howl. I was making an alpha command and all of the werewolves would here it. They wouldn't hear it physically, but they would mentally. I had discovered I could call them even when they were far away about ten years after I became a werewolf, and today I didn't have time to return to human and get the back that way. They needed to be here, like now.

'_What's wrong', _Leah's mental voice snaked over the mental barrier.

'_Two werewolves just got added to my pack, Leah, they're seven years old. Seven!!!' _I sent to her.

'_Seven, are you sure?' _Leah thought back.

'_I'm positive, their names our Chrysalis and Esmeralda.' _I thought.

'_The twins', _Gary thought

"_They're Quill's grandkids.' _Lynn added.

Even though I was extremely worried about the fact that we had two seven year-old werewolves, I couldn't resist. _'More family names?' _I queried.

'_No, Chrysalis is an old Quileute name and Esmeralda is some name from a character in a game. I can't believe they changed. What caused it?' _Lynn thought.

'_They can't remember exactly, it's like…' _I thought.

'_Victoria', _Marsha finished.

Nicole POV

Bella and I returned them to Leah's house where I morphed back to my human form and went inside. I got clothes for all four of us and quickly dressed.

I didn't return to my wolf form because Bella had asked me to stay human so that when they morphed back I could give them clothes. The clothes I had for them were mine and I knew they would be quite large on them. I had some of Leah's clothes for Bella and I watched in silence as Bella showed them how to return to being a human.

The Cullen's had followed us to La Push, but I realized that with Bella being imprinted to the one male the rules of the treaty were sort of moot. "What's going on?" The male she was imprinted to asked, I believed his name was Edward.

"They're new, they just changed, we believe Victoria might be behind this, but we're not certain." I explained.

Just then both girls changed back to being humans. "Here", I gave them both sundresses which they promptly put on.

Bella changed back to her human form right after them. "This has to stop, we can't keep having young females such as you three changing", she said as she grabbed her clothes.

"Yeah, but how do we stop it?" I asked.

"I'll tell you how, tonight, us, the females, will hunt these forests till we find Victoria. Then we will kill her. She's been hunting these forests for far too long and it's time she realized who the owners of these woods are. We shall show her what real fear is." Bella said. Her eyes were far off in the distance, her voice was determined. "It's time that Victoria died."

I didn't know what to say, and I didn't know how to act. I wasn't ready to be a fighter, and our two newest pack members certainly weren't ready.

She suddenly looked at us with a gentle fondness. "Don't worry fighting is an instinct built within us, I ought to know."

**A.N.: **Are you ready for a hunt, and a big shock? I sure hope so. PLEASE REVIEW.

**A.N. 2: **Unfortunately law school is officially back in session. I will update as often as possible, but it won't be as often as any of us like, especially me. So please be patient, add me to your alerts, write me reviews, and I will try and get updates up ASAP. Also try out my new story Sheer Crimson.


	14. Amiss

**A.N.: **Thank you for getting me to fifty-four reviews. Thanks for the faves, alerts, and just reading it in general.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 14 – Amiss

Bella POV

We were all in Leah's house. Leah, Lynn, Embry, Gary, and Marsha were in the dining room. My pack and the Cullen's were in the living room. I knew we wouldn't be able to sneak up on Victoria which meant we'd have to be well prepared. I still wasn't able to shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen.

"Chrysalis and Esmeralda shouldn't come", I said.

"We'll need all of us." Leah said.

I shook my head, because I was coming to several scary conclusions. I remembered back eighty-two years ago. There had been two that had joined our pack that year. Tammy and Christopher both had died within the year. Christopher had disappeared a month after he had become a werewolf. Three months later our newest member Tammy had been killed. Not even a week later and we found Christopher's body. Both of their bodies had reeked of vampire.

"I won't let another new werewolf die, if there's going to be another Tammy, it will be one of us." I said.

Leah, Lynn, Marsha, and Embry paled. We never spoke of Tammy's death–just like Alex–her death was a mystery. "Bella, we've been over this. Tammy's death was a fluke. You've been bit by Victoria personally and it didn't kill you."

"What if it wasn't Victoria that killed her?" I asked.

"Who else could it have been?" Lynn asked.

"Christopher", I said.

"That's impossible", Leah said.

"That right there is the reason why I shall hunt for her alone. No one will come with me. Something never added up, we put two and two together and somehow ended up with three. I will find her, and kill her myself. None of you are allowed to come." I said.

"That's ridiculous you'll need help." Leah said.

"My decision is _not_ up for debate. It is an alpha order and you are not to follow." I said.

I left without another word. I headed into the forest, but I didn't phase. Something had never added up. Tammy, Christopher, Collin, Brady, and Alex all had died mysteriously. Collin and Brady had been found tied to two separate trees. They had reeked of vampire. Christopher had been lying on the forest floor when we had discovered his body. I had been the one that found him, and had seen his eyes. They had been blood red; I had closed his eyelids before anyone else arrived. Some things were better left unknown, so I had never told any of the others. Then there was Tammy who had also been found on the forest floor, perhaps the largest mystery out of all the deaths. She had a bite mark on her neck and had been drained of most of her blood, but something about the scene had never added to Victoria. The last had been Alex. After I had felt the pain I called Embry. He immediately went to check on Alex. He found him on the floor in his house. There had been no bite marks on Alex; there hadn't been any reason for his death. The medical examiner had declared it had been a heart attack, but werewolves didn't have heart attacks. Something was seriously amiss and I couldn't place my finger on it.

Alice POV

She was running pretty fast for not being in her wolf form. She seemed to have a destination in her head. None of the wolves had followed, but we did.

She stopped in front of a small cabin. She didn't turn to look at us, "This was where Alex lived and died." Then she started moving again but her pace was slower. She stopped in a small opening. "Three thousand yards, Tammy was found here." She bent down and placed her hand against the ground, and then she returned to walking. She came to a stop in front of an ancient oak, "Seventeen hundred yards, they found Collin tied to this tree." She placed her hand on the tree and then returned to walking. This time she didn't lead us very far. We were in front of an old red wood, "A hundred yards, this was where Brady was found." She ran her hand down the bark, and then returned to walking. She stopped at another small opening, "Nine hundred yards, Christopher was found here." She started walking again and we ended up back at the cabin. We had gone in a large circle, "Twenty-three hundred yards, and we're back to where Alex died. That's exactly eight thousand yards around the circumference." She whirled and walked straight out. "This is the center of the circle." She said as she came to a stop.

"What are you doing?" Edward asked.

"Tracing, something sometime went amiss, and it's been causing us trouble ever since. This is where it started." She walked over to a tree and leaned against it, "This is where it has to end." She closed her eyes.

"What are you going to do?" I asked.

"I'm going to wait on him to come." Bella said.

Who was she talking about; I thought we were looking for Victoria. Just then a man walked into view.

**A.N.: **Who is it? Can you guess? I bet you could. Please review.


	15. Alex

**A.N.: **To those of you that wondered who it was I think you now know. As always thanks for the reviews, alerts, faves, and just reading it in general.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 15 – Alex

Bella POV

He stood thirty feet in front of me. He had the same shoulder length blond hair, the same 6'4" height, and the same black eyes. I wondered why I hadn't seen the obvious sooner. "I must say it took you long enough." He said.

"Before I kill you I have three questions. First, what are you? Second, how long has Victoria been dead? And third, why'd you do it?"

He smiled, "I suppose it won't hurt for you to know the truth. I've been called many names including Danag, Liboshomen, and Liabra. There really isn't an exact name. I never lied about my heritage. You see my mother's father was a Quileute werewolf just as I told you, but my father, ah, you see my father was a vampire. Lovely enough I was born creating a mixed breed of all three human, vampire, and werewolf.

"As to your second question, she was killed back when I started telling you that she was dead. Collin, Brady, and I killed her just as I told you. And to your third, why did I do what?" He said.

"Kill your brothers and sister. They were werewolves and you proclaimed to be one yourself, so why did you kill them? Why did you do it?" I said angrily.

He narrowed his eyes, "I don't know what you mean."

"Really, perhaps I ought to make myself clearer, Alex. All of the other deaths added up to something killing them. Then there was your supposed death. They all had blood loss, they all had broken bones, and they all had been through obvious hell. Then there was yours it was a clean cut report cold skin, not breathing, and no heartbeat. Don't pretend like you aren't responsible for four deaths, because I know that it was you." I said.

He sighed, "It wasn't supposed to happen that way. I wanted a companion, a friend, anything. I wanted someone who was like me. I kidnapped Christopher with every thought that he'd survive, but as I thought it over more and more I realized that he might not. So I kidnapped Tammy thinking I could change her, I never–not even once–thought that my venom was different. I thought it was like other vampires, and I already knew that the females couldn't be killed by a vampire's venom. It went wrong, and instead of changing she died. I tried with Christopher after that and the result was the same, instant death.

"After that I gave up for a while. That was until Collin and Brady figured it out. I couldn't just let them go and tell Leah what I was, could I? I tried to change both of them and failed. They both died. For years that was all the worse it was and that's all it was ever going to be. I didn't need blood to survive, I just liked it. A little over a year ago Marsha came to me and she too had discovered the truth. We got into a fight and she defeated me. She may not be strong but she's smart. She left me there thinking I had died, which I might have for a few hours, but I woke up in the morgue and I've been hiding ever since."

"If you had wanted a lab rat so bad why didn't you choose me?" I snapped. My hands were shaking and I knew I was soon going to attack.

"I couldn't do that to you Bella, I just couldn't. You were my friend and my alpha, I couldn't hurt you. I couldn't do that." He said.

I snorted, "You hit upon the key word didn't you, 'were', and you have that much right. Now, prepare to die." I didn't wait for his plea that I knew would stop my attack, I just phased.

I lunged at him biting into his elbow. He threw me off before I could actually rip his arm off. I hit a mid-sized tree and there was a groan of protest before the tree fell backwards. My shoulder was in searing agony as I got back to my feet, it was broken I could tell. I saw that the Cullen's were preparing to fight him. I looked at them and snarled, _my fight. _I lunged at Alex again biting deeply into his leg.

He grabbed my waist and threw me. I hit a rock in my back but luckily my back didn't break. I got back on all fours and this time switched tactics. I rushed him but as I got close I skidded to the side then launched my self at his side. Unfortunately, he was prepared. He threw me into another tree and this time my left hind leg broke. I howled sending an alpha command for help.

He launched himself at me and I jumped to the side, but with only three functioning legs it was agonizing. He threw himself at me again and this time I wasn't fast enough. His teeth went into my throat and pain like none I'd ever felt shot through my body.

**A.N.: **Cliffhanger, argh. Please review.

**A.N. 2:** I will try to get a few updates this week (but no promises) and I promise that I will update all of my stories this weekend.

**A.N. 3: **Also try reading my newest story Scarlet Hate.


	16. Herstory

**A.N.: **Thank you for getting me to sixty-five reviews. Thanks for all the faves, alerts, and just reading it in general.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 16 – Her-story

Edward POV

Chrysalis and Esmeralda landed in the small clearing not even two feet from Alex. Upon their arrival Alex phased. He had golden fur and had black eyes. Chrysalis and Esmeralda split to opposite ends and converged on him. I ran over toward where I assumed Bella to be. Alex had thrown Bella and she landed off in the forest.

She was lying in her human form curled up in a ball. I ran over to her and grabbed her.

'So I kidnapped Tammy thinking I could change her, I never–not even once–thought that my venom was different. I thought it was like other vampires, and I already knew that the females couldn't be killed by a vampire's venom. It went wrong, and instead of changing she died.' Had been Alex's words, what if that happened to Bella? I couldn't lose her.

"She'll be fine." Someone said from my side. I looked over startled that I hadn't heard anyone approach. It was Marsha. She had a white sundress folded over her arm.

I grabbed the dress and quickly slid it on to Bella, but she didn't respond. "How do you know?"

"Because Alex bit me and I was fine. Bella's a fighter just like me, so she'll survive." Marsha said as she sat down. "His venom is really painful but as long she doesn't give in she'll survive."

"What's going on out there?" I said pointing to the woods and for the first time I realized that like Bella, Marsha's mind was closed to me.

"Bella's pack is having the time of their life while they destroy Alex." A shadow passed through her eyes, "Creatures like him shouldn't exist."

"What do you mean?" I asked. It seemed like Marsha knew about a lot that she didn't let on.

"The liabras, the danphyrs, the lycanthropes, and us none of them should exist."

"A what?"

"The creatures of mixed blood. A danphyr has a human mother and vampire father. A liabra is similar, being that the father is a vampire and the mother is human, but somewhere in her gene pool she has the line of a shape-shifter. That's what we really are, shape-shifters, not werewolves. Then there's the lycanthropes which is the creation of a werewolf and a shape-shifter breeding.

"Of course, I shouldn't forget ourselves, the female shape-shifters, perhaps the biggest blasphemy that there is. We shouldn't exist. We came to be because of our parents. I hate to sound so scientific about non trivial things, but it's the truth. A human that has the shape-shifter gene shouldn't breed with a human that doesn't have it. We are what occurs when they decide to go against that rule.

"At least we can't multiply, and thank the lord for that, but still. We shouldn't exist. We can't do anything a normal shape-shifter can, we can't even die. At least this might destroy the last of the liabras, and it's a good thing too." She said.

I cocked my head, how would she know if that was the last one?

"You're confused, I really shouldn't bother." She said. "Almost a thousand years ago in India in a small tribe just north of the Ganges River I was born to a fairly poor family. A merchant father and a seamstress mother, there wasn't anything special about my family. Our tribe on the other hand was very special because we were protected by our watchers. The ruff American translation would be griffin. Fifteen years later I changed into one myself. I protected my tribe for many years, until a drought hit. Then there was nothing I could do, I left and wandered. Almost two hundred years after my birth I found that I could morph into anything.

"Throughout my travels I found several other tribes that had shape-shifters. A little over a hundred years ago I was in Egypt when I saw what transpired between a Quileute man and an Irish woman. I followed them back here where I watched from a difference; the child was born almost four months early and died in the incubator. I felt sorry for them so I phased into a baby that looked like the one who had just died, took the name Marsha as my own, and became their little daughter.

"Then I used my shape-shifting to age at a normal rate and fourteen years later I decided to start phasing into a wolf. Of course, I stuck around for so long for Bella's sake. I knew the instant that Alex showed up what he was, but Bella grew attached to him so I didn't destroy him. When Bella left with a broken heart and soul I swore that I wouldn't kill the beast, and I too left. A year ago I broke that promise because it just didn't feel right to leave that beast alive, so I returned. I tried to kill him, and in matter of fact I thought I did until that attack about a week ago.

"I recognized his scent all too well, and realized I failed. In the attempt to leave his body in tact so that there was some closure for Bella I shirked my responsibility. The result, he survived." Marsha shook her head.

"What about your imprint?" I asked, there was too much that wasn't adding up.

She laughed, "My imprint, Edward, females can't imprint. I love Alistair it's true, I'd lay down my life for him–if I could die that is–, and I'd do anything for him, but I didn't imprint. I used that little lie so Bella would believe that there was still a chance for you two. I knew that you had to still love her, and I knew she still loved you so I nudged her in the right direction. That's the reason she still has emotions for Jacob, because there was no imprint.

"The only good an imprint is for, is so that we know who will pass the shape-shifter gene on best to. Since those of us that are female can't get pregnant there's no point in an imprint. We can choose who we love and be with whom we choose, no strings attached. Just the way real love is supposed to work."

"What about Tammy?" I asked sternly. Marsha said the females couldn't die, but wasn't Tammy's death proof that they could.

"Tammy was an abomination, just like Alex. She was a lycanthrope; you see her biological mother was a werewolf. She was the result and unlike female shape-shifters, she was able to be killed." Marsha said.

"You said you could change into anything, anything at all?"

"Eventually, Bella will be able to do it to. In another fifty years, perhaps a hundred she will be able to change into anything she likes. I assume that even the males would eventually have the ability, but I can't guarantee that. When she finally gets to that stage she will even be able to change into a vampire if she wishes. She could be just like you, live like you, smell like you, and stay with you. Someday even those little ones will be able to do that." Marsha shook her head. "That shouldn't have happened; a nine year old and twin seven year olds, it's wrong. They will live forever, and hopefully will eventually be able to find the men of their dreams. I wish I could stop the females from morphing but I don't know how." In my arms Bella began to stir, "See I told you that Bella would be fine." Marsha disappeared without another word.

**A.N.: **A lot of info, do you have it all down? Might want to make sure that you know it all, because you never know when I might have it come back. Please review.


	17. Back To Drinking

**A.N.: **Thank you for getting me to seventy-three reviews. Thanks for the faves, alerts, and for just reading it.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 17 – Back To Drinking

Bella POV

I don't exactly think that Marsha realized I was conscious enough to understand what she told Edward, but I had been. I was currently at a bar in Port Angeles and had just downed my third shot of Crown Royal. All that kept running through my head was the fact that everything I knew about Marsha was a lie. Marsha was my best friend and I knew nothing about her. Alex the man who had been a son to me in many ways wasn't even a werewolf–wrong word–a shape-shifter. What was it that Marsha had called him exactly, a liabra.

I had never imprinted on Edward and I suppose part of me was glad, because that meant my love for him was genuine and so was his love for me. Here was my problem though; I had fallen back in love with him because of a lie, so wasn't that just as bad.

A tall female with long black hair came up to me and sat down on the next stool. The bar tender came up to her, "What would you like miss?" He asked.

"I want a bloody mary; add a shot of Wild Turkey and a tad of lemon juice." The female said.

I recognized that drink better then if she had just told me who she was, it was Marsha. She looked nothing like the girl I knew, yet it was her. It was proof of how she had explained that she could change into anything. "Well, Bella I shouldn't be surprised to see you here." Marsha said.

"I would say I'm happy to see you but I'm afraid that would be bullshit, Marsha. Or is that even your real name?"

"As real as any other, I suppose. I'm a thousand years old and have lived in over a hundred countries, to which I took a new name in almost all of them. This isn't exactly rocket science; I came from a different time period. One where names had different meanings, and like I said I was born to a poor family. My name at the time resembled my family's wealth. Shira was what I used to be called when I was first born; it was the name of a working class child." Marsha said.

"Is this what you actually look like?" I asked as the bar tender sat her drink down.

"No, I actually looked quite similar to the being you were familiar with. Well, except for the hair. This", she pointed to her hair, "Is my natural hair color."

"You said you originally shape-shifted into a griffin, right?"

"That would be the closest American term for my original form, but Egypt would have called me a sphinx and Greece would have called me a Chimera. In India we were called Farishans. The literal translation to English is twisted beasts. Almost every language has some form of a name for what I was. I had a land animal's body and the head of a flying animal." Marsha said.

"Were you ever going to tell me all of this?" I demanded.

"Eventually, I had planned on telling you after you realized that you could change your shape into anything. I felt that you didn't need to know until then."

"What about the others?"

"Well, uh, Lynn, err, already knows and I haven't been looking forward to telling Leah as she sort of has a tendency to, err, overreact. Obviously the three youngest females are too young to deal with this kind of info." Marsha said.

"You're probably right about that, and what about Alex, and Tammy?"

"Well, when Alex first moved here I was going to kill him then and there, and no one would have been the wiser. Then you got attached to him all too quickly and I couldn't bring myself to kill him knowing that it would hurt you. About the time Jacob imprinted I had planned on telling you, but with you so devastated I once again couldn't do it. Last year I had planned on killing him and leaving with no one the wiser, and I thought it worked. As for Tammy I saw no harm in letting it go, she was more shape-shifter than werewolf so I figured everything would be fine. I thought it would just be best to leave her be, no one needed to know that she wasn't the same as us."

"Is Alistair really even real?"

"Of course, everything I told you about the way vampires loved was true. He was the one who told me all of that. I met Alistair almost two-hundred and fifty years ago, and fell in love practically instantly. Something about him was mesmerizing, and I loved him for it. We don't always stay together though as I have better things to do with my life then pant after a man and hunt with him."

"So, what happens if you shape-shift into a vampire?" I asked.

"Ah, I see you're finally getting on board. Well, whenever you shift forms, you gain their habits while you're in their form. So, in the form of a vampire you will be thirsty for blood. You won't sleep and here's the sweet part, you'll smell like them, and they won't smell bad. It's just like how when you're a wolf you like to eat raw meat, and like to sleep several times a day for only a few hours at a time. No matter what form you take you will have to abide by what that form needs. For instance a small bird like a sparrow needs seeds, and approximately fourteen hours of sleep, whereas if you chose a shark you would have to survive off the fish of the ocean."

I shook my head slowly.

"Here, let's forget about all that crap for the night and how about a bet, I'll bet fifty k that you get drunk before I do." Marsha said.

I smiled darkly, "You're on."

Marsha tapped on her glass and the bartender came over. "We need a dozen shots of your strongest liquor." Marsha said with a gallant smile and he rushed off to do it without a single word of censure.

He quickly brought a bottle back of liquor I didn't recognize and pulled out a bunch of shot glasses. He poured the alcohol into the glasses, left the bottle on the counter, and returned to his other costumers.

"Well, Bella, let's see how long you can make it." Marsha said with a wink.

We both grabbed a shot and slammed them back; I grabbed the next one and repeated the process. We finished the first round probably in less then a minute and Marsha quickly poured out another set.

By the fifth or sixth round I was drunk but I wasn't about to admit it, and Marsha didn't even seemed fazed yet. She poured another set out and we continued our match. I don't know if we did another three or four rounds but suddenly I almost fell off my chair and my head was pounding. Marsha grabbed me but I was already starting to go into unconsciousness.

"Bella, as a basic warning never dare someone who has been drinking for almost a thousand years to a drinking match." Were the last words I heard before the night took me.

**A.N.: **Once again I strongly recommend never to drink the amount of alcohol that I refer to in this story. Sort of a fluffy chapter, it was a filler, sorry. Please review.


	18. Sleeping

**A.N.: **Thank you for getting me to eighty reviews.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 18 – Sleeping

Edward POV

It was 2 in the morning when there was a knock on the door, yet I couldn't hear a single mind. I could hear two heartbeats and two people breathing. I recognized the one heartbeat as I would recognize it anywhere, it was Bella's, but I wasn't certain as to the other. According to sound of Bella's heartbeat she was unconscious. I was currently the only one in the house as everyone else had gone hunting. I had opted not to as I was still brooding over the info I gained from Marsha and the argument that followed with Bella.

I went down to the door, and opened it. Bella was lying in the arms of a tall woman I had never met before. The female that held Bella was tall with long black hair. She was wearing a black mini skirt, a white halter-top, and black boots. Something about her eyes seemed familiar though, they were a brilliant blue.

"Well are you going let me in, or are you going to stand there like a fool?" The woman asked.

"Who are you?" I asked.

She looked down at her body for a second, "Oops", she muttered, "Sorry, here take Bella."

I put my arms out and she handed Bella over to me. She took a few steps back and closed her eyes. The air shimmered and the body shifted. Suddenly the person in front of me was Marsha. The skirt went farther down her legs, her boots went farther up, and her shirt covered more of her. Her hair was back to being short and blond. "Sorry about that, I forgot that I had changed my looks."

"Marsha what are you doing here, with Bella?" I asked.

"Well, I was in that form so I could pass for an appropriate age, because I assumed she was doing her favorite pastime; drinking. I was right she was drinking. I found her at a bar in Port Angeles. After talking with her for a while and making her see sense – I hope – I dared her to a drinking contest. She lost as you can see. She really didn't have a chance; after all I've been alive for a thousand years in comparison to her a hundred years." Marsha said.

I moved Bella inside and laid her on the couch. "Will she be alright?" I asked.

"I'm sure she'll be fine minus a killer headache. Of course, I'm sure that waking up to see you will help her. I probably went about making your love for her clear, and my whole history wrong, but it just felt easier to let her believe that I was just Marsha. That was who she grew up with, not Shira the merchant's daughter. I was foolish to let my past go unexplained for so long, but it was easier then revealing the truth. How was I to explain to the one who wanted the grave perhaps more than anyone else, that it would never occur? I found myself seeking anyway to keep her from discovering the truth. I made Lynn swear she wouldn't tell Bella till I was ready. I never was." Marsha said.

"Why didn't you just have Lynn tell her?" I asked.

"That felt like the coward's way out, and I wasn't about to force it on to Lynn. I felt that the only right way for her to find out was for her to get it from me. Yet, every time I seriously considered telling her about anything important, something else went wrong. First she loved Alex, then Tammy was killed followed shortly by Christopher, then her father abruptly died–wrong word–disappeared, and right after that her mother and stepfather were both killed in a plane crash. Then of course Jacob imprinted and she left. There was never a right time." Marsha said shaking her head.

"Wait, her father disappeared?" I asked, Bella had never mentioned this.

"It was really strange, and it wasn't just her father. Leah's mother Sue had married him about two years prior. Right around eight years after Bella first changed they both just vanished. Both of their cars were still in the drive, their suitcases still under the bed, and there was food on the table. There was a very small trace of a vampire smell, but it was only in one spot. We searched for both of them multiple times and every time we came up empty handed. Bella had an idea but she had never shared her idea with anyone else. I don't even think Alex knew. Bella was good at that, hiding her real thoughts even from members of her own pack." Marsha said.

"Is it possible that Alex was the cause?" I asked.

"I have thought of that, but no. The smell was different, the vampire smelled like", she paused as she closed her eyes and sniffed the air. "I believe it was a female, the vampire smelled like irises in frigid air."

The frigid air must have been an opinion based thing, "So you never found Bella's father?" I asked.

"I didn't, no, but Bella might have. Bella and I talked over the phone from time to time and the last time we talked I mentioned her father, and she white-walled me. I think she knows something about it, but I'm not sure." Marsha said.

"Do you know why I can't hear your thoughts?" I asked

"Well, I was originally a member of her pack, plus I probably am as mentally twisted as her." Marsha said and then muttered, "If not more."

I couldn't help the smirk that crossed my face. "And she'll be fine?" I checked again.

"Of course, alcohol can't hurt the female werewolves anymore then a bullet." Marsha confirmed as she turned back to the front door.

"Thanks Marsha." I whispered.

"Your welcome, Edward", She said back. She started toward the door and then turned halfway toward me. "A word of warning; Bella may be physically strong, but mentally she is easily broken. Be careful with what you do and say around her, be tolerant with her faults, and take good care of her. If you break her heart again there may not be enough left of her to repair her. Trust me when I say that there are a lot worse ways to try and commit suicide. If you hurt her again I promise that I will personally kill you, so don't hurt her this time around, because this is both of your guys' last shot."

She started going toward the door again and I was too stunned to say a word. Just as she opened the door she made one last comment, "Oh, and one more thing you might want to ask her to marry you. She'd like to settle down, she isn't like me."

With those words she shut the door and I heard her car driving off. I grabbed Bella off of the couch and took her to my bedroom. I laid down beside her and pulled her close to me. She seemed to naturally move herself against me so that her head was lying on my chest.

Marsha's last comment ran around my head. I would be overzealous to be Bella's husband, but if I asked Bella, would she accept?

**A.N.: **I wonder what happened to Bella's father. Please review.


	19. Early Morning

**A.N.: **Thank you for getting me to eighty-five reviews.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 19 – Early Morning

Bella POV

My mind was hazy as I woke to the early morning. My head was pounding with a painful headache. How much alcohol had I drunk last night? I tried to remember and was greeted with my headache getting worse. I could remember Marsha… Marsha had dared me to a drinking contest… I had agreed… She told the bar tender… And he brought over a bottle of liquor that I had never seen before… He poured out twelve shots… Marsha and I drank the first round of shots… A round had been six shots for each of us… Marsha poured the next round and we drank them down. How many rounds had I drank? Was it eight… or ten… or was it nine? My head was pounding as I tried to remember and do the math. I drank between forty-eight and sixty shots; I just couldn't remember the exact number.

I had felt this kind of headache before, but never in alcohol. It felt like someone had given me PCP, but how was that possible? When Marsha asked for the alcohol she had told him that she wanted the most potent liquor available, and she had given him her award winning smile. I had been paying so much attention to the smile that I had missed the other part. My subconscious had noticed though, she had winked. Had the drink been laced with phencyclidine? I wouldn't put it past Marsha.

So I was probably lying in her spare bedroom in the beach house. My head was positively pounding and I couldn't remember what happened after Marsha's comment of how I should never bet against someone whose been drinking for a thousand years. What Marsha should have said was that I should never bet against a cheater. She'd laced the alcohol with Angel Dust, she knew it knocked me out faster then any other drug, damn. I should have smelled the liquor first, I had been a fool.

I had half of a mind to find her and punch her. She knew that I had quit with the drugs. Damn, my head was throbbing. I felt someone squeeze my hand. It was cold, thanks Marsha. She took me to the Cullen's, lovely. I opened my eyes to find Edward sitting beside me.

"How are you feeling?" Edward murmured.

"My head is positively throbbing", I muttered.

"You should quit drinking", Edward said.

"It wasn't the alcohol, Marsha cheated. It was the PCP, I guess it could have been Ice but it feels like PCP. I should have known she would cheat, she always use to, but I didn't think to check." I said. I remembered our first contest, it had been long before I had gotten used to alcohol and drugs, and she had laced the Canadian Mist with hash–a very concentrated version of marijuana.

"She added drugs?" Edward asked sounding horrified.

"Sure, why wouldn't she? The drugs are just like the alcohol, they don't hurt us in the slightest." I said. "Well, aside from the killer headaches."

"I can't believe she would do that." Edward muttered.

"Why not? We're werewolves it's what we do. There are very few of us who wouldn't do something to get the upper hand. She's the worst. If Marsha had her way she'd win at everything and she's not past putting a bullet in one of our heads to win either. It's Marsha's way." I said and remembered the first time she shot Lynn, we had been playing a poker game when it had occurred. Marsha had an undeniable competitive nature that often rode her life.

"You're not serious?" Edward asked.

"Very serious, Marsha is the most competitive of all of us females. She wins one way or another, and as a general rule you don't want to piss her off. Marsha's been known to go to drastic measures when she gets mad. Marsha is an unstoppable force of nature."

Edward POV

"What all has Marsha done?" I asked.

"Lot's of things. I remember the first time that I pissed Marsha off she hung me from the top of a tree. The cuffs that she used had been made out of a special alloy and I was stuck in the tree for three days until Jacob found me."

"And, she's your Friend?" I asked sardonically.

"Of course, she's my friend. Besides its better then being her enemy. She brought a lot of fun to the pack. It's shocking all the stuff she came up with considering she always managed to pull off the act of being forlorn and sorrowful. It was how her whole life went and looking back I realize it was an entire act." Bella shook her head.

"Your head still pounding?" I asked.

"Not anymore. There's very little that has a lasting effect on me. It's still slightly throbbing but that will be gone within the hour."

"Good to hear", I whispered. I had traversed my closet and found my mothers old jewelry while Bella had slept. One of the few items I had was my mother's engagement ring. I knew it was a strange time and way to propose but ever since Marsha had given me the thought around six hours priors I hadn't been able to budge the idea.

I pulled Bella out of bed and made her stand. She raised her eyebrow at me but I just went to one knee. "Isabella Marie Swan, I love and always have. Will you take me to be yours till the end of time?" It was simpler then I would have used if I had spent more time preparing but the truth of the matter was it was all that was needed. Anything else was just fluffing to sugar coat it. I pulled the ring box out and opened the lid in an offer.

Bella seemed in shock, and then she rapidly shook her head. "Before I respond to this proposal I have one question. Did Marsha put you up to this?"

I was shocked that she knew, "Yes."

"Figures", Bella muttered looking away. I saw her lips move and read them, 'never tell Marsha anything while under the influence.' Then Bella looked directly in my eyes again and there was a tear in the corner of her left eye. "Yes, Edward, I would love to be your wife."

"Thank you", I whispered and slid the ring on her finger. I got onto my feet and gave her a strong kiss.

After a minute Bella pulled away breathing really hard. "Where are the others?" She asked.

"They're hunting and won't be back till tomorrow." I answered.

"So, we have the day to ourselves", Bella said with a wicked glint in her eyes.

"Yes", I breathed.

"Perfect", Bella said as she grabbed my collar and pulled me onto the bed so I was straddling her.

**A.N.: **Sorry that the chapters have been so short. They will get longer again I promise, I have sort of been experiencing a writer's block, but I think I'm finally out of it. Please review.

**A.N. 2: **I mentioned three very real drugs in this chapter. They are Ice, PCP (also called phencyclidine and Angel Dust), and Hash. In case you are wondering all three are very illegal. All three are very easy to overdose on which will lead to death. Also the average sentencing time on any of these drugs is twenty years in prison and a ten thousand dollar fine. So, I strongly recommend never to use any of these drugs.


	20. Leading

**A.N.: **Thank you for getting me to eighty-nine reviews.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 20 – Leading

Bella POV

I pulled him on top of me and my mouth latched to his. He was the man I had always loved and though I had also loved Jacob there was a difference. My love for Jacob didn't even hold a thousandth of the emotion that I had for Edward. It was Edward's face that had haunted my life for the past ninety years and it was Edward that I had always loved.

If someone had told me that I would ever be able to spend eternity with Edward I would have laughed. In my mind any chance of me ever being with Edward had died when I became a shape-shifter. Yet here we were together and I was going to marry him.

I ran my hands down his shirt as I gently unbuttoned it. My fingers swept down the contours of his chest as his tongue entered my mouth. His grabbed my shirt and tore it away from my body. Normally I would have been upset over having my clothes ruined–I destroyed enough already–but today I didn't care. I was just happy to be with him.

His hands cupped my breasts and his thumbs gently rubbed circles over the buds of my breasts. I gave a small moan. My hands moved down to his pants where I began to undo them when Edward's right hand moved down and caught my wrists.

He pulled away slightly as he shoved my hands above my head. "Let me lead", He murmured before he pressed his mouth back to mine. It looked like I was going to be tortured while I was pleasured. Surprisingly the idea didn't upset me as I thought it would. It had been a long time since I had been with a male who was physically strong enough to actually stop me from doing as I willed, and I found the thought appealing.

Edward slid his hand back down to my breasts tracing my face as he went. His tongue ran along the inside of my cheeks then he removed his mouth and began kissing his way down my body. He let seven kisses down my cheek and jaw before kissing my neck. He gently swirled his tongue over the spot on my neck that was my jugular. I let out a small whimper as the sensations took over my body.

His left hand slid down my body and massaged the area near my navel. I let another whimper and my fingers dug into the pillow above my head. His mouth continued down my body trailing licks and kisses all the way to my right breast. He began to gently suck on the bud of my breast and almost of its own accord my back arched into him.

His right hand traveled down my body as his mouth switched breasts. His left hand left my navel and both his hands moved to the hem of my skirt. His thumbs slipped under both the skirt and the bikini bottoms, and he pulled it down and off of me. His mouth continued trailing kisses down my body clear to my navel where his tongue traced it. I moaned again this time in a tortured plea.

His nose swept over my navel when his mouth continued his slow path down my body. His kisses continued down to the core of my body. He then ran his tongue along my pussy. His tongue traced all the fine lines of my center. I began to tremble even though he wasn't even in me yet.

He slid two of his fingers into me as his tongue began to massage my nub. I let out another moan that was half a groan. This was far too torturous for me, and I wanted him to move faster. To my good fortune he actually responded to my plea by pumping his fingers in and out of me forcefully. My hips met with his fingers as I began to whimper and moan.

I'm positive words left my lips but I wasn't certain as to what. His pace was still far too slow and a plea managed to escape my lips. I'm not sure if I said his name or faster or more, but whatever escaped my lips worked and he worked in and out of my heat faster.

He seemed to hit my G-spot because I was soon saying profanities and my movements got a lot harsher. I couldn't seem to control my body as I was overtook by my climax. I could feel his hand tightly gripped on my hip but it was the only physical sensation that I had. The rest of me seemed somewhere far away riding on the high of my orgasm.

Finally I came back down to earth and calmed down.

Edward POV

"Okay, now it's my turn", Bella said as soon as her orgasm completed.

She pulled me onto the bed again this time using my shoulders since she had already removed my shirt. It felt strange to me that Bella had such strength, because to me she was just a human. It didn't matter to me that she was now a shape-shifter; she still had the same soft skin, the same deep blush, and the same heartbeat. She would always be my Bella, but it was a shock that she could actually move me without my help.

She kissed me gently on the lips and then slowly trailed kisses down my jaw line. Continuing her kisses across my neck her hands trailed a line of fire down my abdomen till she reached my pants where she confidently released me. She slid both my pants and boxers off of me in one fluid movement having no trouble at all. I suddenly moaned as she kissed a particularly sensitive spot just below my ear.

"You like that don't you", Bella whispered just before she kissed the same spot again. I let out another moan and managed to give a meek nod. She kissed that spot one more time this time producing a growl from me. Yeah, it felt good, but this was torture, plain and simple. Then she began kissing her way down my body again gently biting my nipples as she went.

It felt almost as if she was afraid to hurt me if she bit me to hard and with a start I realized how possible that idea was. Her mouth continued down after a second and I watched as she kissed my navel a small smile gracing her lips.

Something about her motions felt too easy and too fluid. It reminded me of the fact that by far I wasn't the first man that she had slept with. All of her details had been sketchy at best when it came to the fact that she had been with other men. She had refused to tell me extensively what her sex life had been like. The only thing I knew was that she had slept with a lot of men other then Jacob.

Her lips continued down as her left hand stroked my shaft and I let out a fierce moan at the sensation. I realized the difference this time from the last time was that neither of us believed that the other's love was only a required thing. We were experiencing how we truly felt for each other and that made it sweeter.

My eyes closed of there own accord as I moaned when her tongue ran along the head of my shaft. She pulled my manhood as far into her mouth as she could and wrapped her right hand around the rest of my length. She began to gently suck bobbing her head against me. My hips naturally responded to the sensation and I began to buck into her. My left hand tangled into her hair trying to guide her.

I began to let out small growls as I felt myself drawing closer to the release that only she could make. She had her eyes closed as she sucked on me and I knew I was close. My movements got wilder as I got closer to my climax and she sucked even harder.

I suddenly tensed against her and I screamed her name as I felt my release. She continued to suck on me which seemed to only lengthen my release. Eventually I calmed and she pulled away. Then she came up and lied next to me.

**A.N.: **Did I do alright? Please review.

**A.N. 2: **If you ever tire of my stories I suggest you try out The Tempted Lioness by Trumarine, it is an amazing story.


	21. Shock

**A.N.: **Thank you for getting me to ninety-four reviews. Thank you for the faves, the alerts, and just reading it.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 21 – Shock

Alice POV

"Why on earth does it feel like I've been kicked out of my own house?" I stormed looking at Jasper.

"Alice we can go back whenever we want." Jasper pointed out.

"I know, but I don't want to go back to that." I exclaimed. I was sick of my visions being screwed up. Don't get me wrong, I loved Bella to death, but it was just so frustrating not being able to see her.

"Alice, you're going to have to get used to it. I don't think they're going to separate again anytime soon." Carlisle said.

"I don't like it", I pouted. Then I started to storm again, "It just isn't right. It's unnatural, the whole thing is. I should be able to see their future, to see her future. It isn't right."

"Your right, it isn't", a voice said from the forest.

I looked up and found a short female with black hair that was pulled into pigtails and dark red eyes. Behind her was a tall brooding male that I recognized as Alistair.

"Of course, then again when we are talking about what is and isn't right, how is denying your very nature right? I mean you choose to hunt animals even though you are vampires and vampires are made to hunt humans." She continued.

"Who are you?" Emmett asked.

The female looked at herself for a second, and then looked at us again. "Oh, I forgot that you wouldn't recognize me in this form. I'm Marsha."

"Impossible, Marsha is a werewolf and is blond." I scoffed.

"Shape-shifter, not werewolf", Alistair said.

"Marsha's also a red-head, a brunette, and black-haired." The female said.

I crossed my arms, unbelieving.

"Oh, I get it, you don't believe _me_. Stand back Alistair." She said. He took several steps back and she closed her eyes. Her skin darkened slightly and her hair turned blond. When she opened her eyes they were blue. It was Marsha. She cocked her head and crossed her arms. "Do you believe me now?"

I dumbly nodded. I could sense that several of my family members made similar motions. She closed her eyes and switched back to the form of a vampire.

"Do you hunt humans in this form?" Jasper asked.

"You bet", Marsha said. Alistair came back up to her and put his arm around her waist.

"Wait aren't you supposed to…" I began.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm supposed to preserve human life and all that nonsense." Marsha said snorting. "I made those same swears when I joined the 'pack' back in India a thousand years ago. I'll tell you one thing; they did absolutely no good in the long run. All my oaths didn't help in the slightest when the famine hit. Humans expire; it's just a fact of life. So I speed up the process, it's all the same in the long run."

"You don't care?" I asked in shock.

"Of course not, if there's one thing that a thousand years teach you is that things change. I once cared, it was true. Not anymore, a human is just another ending. They all die eventually. Bella will eventually see the same way that I do, they all will. Time passes and they will learn death is a part of life. Humans die, werewolves die, liabras die, lycanthropes die, danphyrs die, vampires die, and male shape-shifters die. Only the female shape-shifters can't. Trust me I've tried." Marsha said.

Alistair nodded and then smiled, "Of course, vampires don't die easily."

"Thank the lord for that. Like I said though, we are abominations. We can change into whatever we like. It gets tiresome knowing that you'll outlive everyone around you. Eventually you stop caring. Any other female I wouldn't have given a damn about, but Bella was already so broken when she was first turned into a shape-shifter. I cared for the poor girl much more then I cared to admit. Then Leah changed and Lynn." Marsha shook her head.

"I return to find that a little nine year old has been changed. Not even a week later two seven year-olds change. It's wrong, completely and utterly wrong. It doesn't matter though. They will all eventually come to see my views. Even Bella will eventually see my way. Deaths a part of life and we're the only ones that defy it." Marsha said.

"Bella would never intentionally kill a human." I said.

Marsha laughed, "You might want to ask her about that. Bella may not have known the full extent of her eventual abilities, but she's no saint. You ought to ask her what happened to two men in Italy. I was there and know first hand. She will eventually be just like me, they all will. Bella changed a lot after you left. Of course, Edward's sort of converting her back to the Bella you guys knew. But, in the end, she'll always be a little devil."

"What about the family you 'grew up' with?" I asked.

"I freely admit that I have always had a soft spot for the young love couples. I just couldn't help but free their mind of guilt. They deserved a child, even if I was much smarter than them." Marsha said.

"I don't understand how you can talk like this." I said.

"That is easy. Yeah, Embry's great and Seth's cool, but what happens to them in the long run. They will die. Leah and Lynn on the other hand will live on. They will find their own way in life and eventually they will discover that I'm right. Lynn and I have already had our fight over if my way is correct or not and we currently aren't talking. Eventually she will see eye to eye with me. Bella already does, she just won't admit it aloud." Marsha said with a coolness that shocked me. The air literally felt frigid.

"I don't believe you." I said.

"Then don't" Marsha said shaking her head. "Maybe Edward will keep her on the right path. Maybe she will be happy. Maybe her life will turn out better then mine. One can always hope. I would like to see one of my own actually have a happily ever after, even if I doubt it will happen. I truly would love to see Bella's life continue better then it has been."

Her voice changed from the cold snake it had been to her normal voice. I was shocked how different she could sound. She looked away from us and into something that I couldn't see. "I truly do hope that she has a happily ever after. She deserves it." She closed her eyes for a second and shook her head.

She looked back at us with a sad smile, "But if she doesn't, she'll know where to find me."

"Wait, are you leaving?" Jasper asked.

"Yep, I outstayed my visit. It's time I go, and it's time that life went on." Marsha said.

It was then that I noticed the two blonds in the background, "Oh, and you can tell Bella that she's losing half of her pack. Chrysalis and Esmeralda are coming with me."

I wanted to say or do something but I didn't know what. Apparently my family didn't know either because Marsha and Alistair disappeared into the forest with the two girls trailing them.

**A.N.: **Sorry, it was a short chapter. It just felt like an appropriate ending to the chapter. This is the last chapter with Marsha for awhile, but she will come back. Please review.


	22. Hunter

**A.N.: **Thank you for the reviews, the alerts, the faves, and just reading.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 22 – Hunter

Bella POV

It was about ten pm when the Cullen's finally got back. Edward and I–for the most part–had spent the whole day in bed. Edward and I decided to go downstairs to greet them but from the serious expressions of several of them I had a feeling that something had happened.

"We ran into Marsha and she's leaving again, she's taking Chrysalis and Esmeralda with her." Alice said.

"Good for them, perhaps they'll visit Italy. It's always a fun place to be when you're with Marsha." I said.

"Wait, you aren't concerned for them?" Carlisle asked.

I laughed, "Far from it, it will do them good. It will allow them to get away from all the crap that is drilled into our minds by the elders."

"What crap is that exactly?" Alice asked.

"You know, protect all humans, blah, blah, blah. Marsha will teach them how to live, see past the black and white that the elders teach." I said.

"You think that protecting humans is wrong?" Emmett asked slowly, most of them had their jaws dropped.

"Not exactly, I think its B.S. We put our tails on the lines to do what? Protect liars, thieves, rapists, and murderers. Why should we protect beings that are no better then what we kill? I'll do my service, I'll protect this town, but there is a whole area of gray. It will do the twins good to see it." I explained.

"What happened to two men in Italy?" Alice asked.

That stopped me for a second. How did they know about that? "I see, Marsha told you." They nodded, "What she should have said was Volterra, but she was stupid to use that as an example. She's trying to prove a point; France would have been a better choice." I shook my head. "It was about fifteen years after I had left Forks behind that I met up with Marsha. Marsha insisted we go see Volterra.

"She wanted me to see what 'vampire HQ' as she called it." What she didn't know was that I had already been there, "We went. We saw all the sights and then about three days in, after getting drunk on Vodka she suggested we have some 'fun' as she put it. I should have seen it coming, it's Marsha. She made this suggestion that we frame a few vampire attacks throughout the town. I was drunk and I agreed. She showed me how to do it, and we split up. I headed around the tower and found two men. I killed them the way she showed me. I didn't find out till the next day that she had killed five." I said

"What happened in France?" Jasper asked.

"That was when she started convincing me that there were ways to live that were much more fun. She had told me that she had passed through Africa and had found another group of werewolves. She said that there were a few there that were human-hunters. She convinced me to give it a try. I tried." Most of the Cullen's gasped.

"I freely admit I've fed off of a few humans when I was going through my rebel years. Of course, I may have enjoyed guilty and sinful pleasures, but it was Marsha who was the instigator. I spent three years enjoying myself as a wilder less instigated wolf. Then I gave it up. I moved to Asia." Though I returned to Italy often, "Marsha followed me and tried to convince me to continue with the fun. I didn't, I was subdued and resigned to wait. I couldn't return to Forks and La Push while Jacob was still alive. He only died about five years ago." I said.

"So you hunted humans?" Carlisle asked, sounding somewhere between intrigued and disgusted.

"Yeah, that was what I did during my rebellion. Of course, it was partly Marsha's fault. I swear Marsha could convince a Jew to eat pork. She's really persuasive. Like I said, she's the instigator." I explained.

"That reminds me; Marsha mentioned something about your dad when she dropped you off last night." Edward said.

"What did she say about my father?" I asked. I knew that she didn't know where he was or what had happened to him. I had made sure that no one had known.

"She told me that he disappeared and that she believed you knew what happened to him. She also mentioned that he married Sue and that she too disappeared." Edward said.

"It's all true, and I know what happened." I said hoping he'd drop it.

"What happened to them?" Edward asked.

I mentally groaned, of course, he wouldn't drop it. "Sue's dead, I don't exactly understand how. Charlie on the other hand is a vampire." I said.

"What? Where?" Edward asked.

"He was changed, by who I'm not certain. I'm also not certain where he's at, we lost track after he was changed." I lied smoothly. This was one piece of info I refused to give. I would not tell them that my father was a member of the Volturi. That I had visited Volterra every few years since he was changed eighty years ago. I wouldn't tell them that my father, Charlie, remembered nothing of his little girl.

I would not let them find out that my father had killed his wife. I would not let anyone discover that. It was my secret, and my burden to bear. I would never let anyone know that Aro and I had a deal. He took care of my vampire father, and in exchange I hunted down and killed any vampires that were causing trouble.

No one would ever find out what kind of a hunter I really was.

Jasper POV

Bella was lying about her father. She wasn't lying about him being a vampire, but her knowledge. I could also sense that she was determined not to tell. I didn't understand what she could be hiding, or why she felt she had to.

Her father had been changed and his wife had been killed. Now Bella was hiding at least part of the truth and as to why I couldn't tell. Bella sighed and walked to the door, "I need to go to Port Angeles and get my vehicle."

Most of us were still digesting all the stuff she had told us, but I had to know what she was hiding. "I'll take you", I said as I walked up to her. She didn't argue with me, but just nodded. I wisely chose Edward's vehicle, knowing she wouldn't dare damage his car.

After we were about mile from the house I decided to start asking. "Bella, where's your father really at?"

"I don't know", her determination spiked.

"Yes, you do. Now you can tell me willingly or I can use my ability to change your emotions so that you want to tell me."

Her eyes dashed to the door and her panic rose when she realized that the lock was under the paneling.

"Now then, this is Edward's car, and you don't want to damage his baby." I said.

She turned and glared at me. I shoved a wave of calm at her and she turned to glare out the front of the window. "I won't tell you squat until you swear that none of them find out, especially Edward."

Her determination was even higher and I knew I wouldn't be able to weaken it enough to force her to tell me. "Okay I promise." I said. Not that it would truly bind me if I wanted to tell them.

"Fine, it was eight years after I became well, me. By that time Charlie had been married to Sue for almost two years. He had known what I was for almost four years. He handled it better then most, but not as well as I handled knowing that you were vampires. One day they just vanished. There was no warning. Marsha and I searched together for them, but after a few years Marsha gave up. I kept searching under the hope of some discovery and eventually I found what I was looking for, or close enough. I found the remains of Sue's body and traced the smell of a stinking vampire. The vampire was Charlie, like I said; I'm not certain who changed him. He didn't know who I was, his own daughter. I helped him as much as I could, and eventually I took him to Volterra.

"I made an agreement, an arrangement with Aro. He would protect my father, and in exchange I would help to destroy any vampires that disobeyed the law." Bella said.

**A.N.: **Please review.


	23. Alec

**A.N.:** Thank you for getting me to one hundred and four reviews. Thanks for the alerts, the favs, and just reading.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 23 – Alec

Bella POV

I had just arrived back at my house as I had decided to return home after my conversation with Jasper. I was shocked to discover a vampire at my house, but I recognized the smell. It was Alec.

I walked into my house, marched was probably a better word. Alec was sitting on the couch in the living room. On my coffee table was a glass of hard liquor. It still shocked me that he knew how to mix alcoholic beverages. The fact that there was a large glass on the table told me that I wasn't going to like my assignment.

"You could have called." I said.

"Aro felt that it was appropriate that I deliver this message in person, or I guess I should say in vampire."

"You shouldn't be anywhere near this town. Do you have any idea what kind of uproar this might cause? This isn't Ecuador, and there are a lot of werewolves here."

"I know, I can tell. I'll be long gone by the time they smell me, and I'm sure you can lead them on a wild goose chase."

"This is dangerous water you're treading in, Alec."

"Technically, it's dangerous water that you're treading in. Since as far as they're concerned I shouldn't exist."

"I know."

"Want a drink?" He waved his hand toward the drink.

I definitely wasn't going to like this assignment. I grabbed the glass and drank half of it down. "Okay, so what's my assignment?"

"It shouldn't be hard. We want you to take care of a coven of vampires."

"How many?"

"There are four."

"Four, he had you come here for _four, _have I not proven that I can take care of myself. He should have just had you call."

"Well it gets tricky; you see we want you to bring at least one of them in, perhaps two."

"I have to take some of them to Volterra." My voice went flat.

"Yes, we can care less about most of them, but we want the one."

"You mean as a Volturi member."

"Yes, we want you to bring the younger male in."

"Who's the other that I should bring in?"

"His mate, if they come willingly, if they don't, kill her as well."

"Who are they? Where are they?"

"They live in Egypt."

"I'm supposed to go to Egypt?"

"Yes, that is Aro's assignment for you."

"He does realize I'm currently acting as a student, doesn't he?"

"Of course, but you are emancipated, and it shouldn't be too hard for you to get away for a few days."

"It isn't hard."

"That's what I thought."

"Who are they?" I asked again.

"They're names are Amun, Kebi, Benjamin, and Tia."

"Which one am I supposed to not kill?"

"Benjamin and his mate Tia if they come willingly. If they don't, dispose of Tia."

"Why do you want Benjamin?"

"Well, like I said, it gets tricky."

"I don't like repeating myself, Alec. Now why do you want him?"

"We want him because he has a powerful ability." Alec said slowly, unwillingly.

"You better explain, and fast." I was getting angry which wasn't good for Alec.

"He can manipulate the elements fire, wind, water, and earth."

"Manipulate, how?"

"Well, he can move the ground, like cause an earthquake. He can do other stuff similar to that with the other elements."

"Do any of the others have abilities?"

"No."

"So I'm supposed to bring him to Volterra with or without his mate, am I correct?"

"That's correct."

"Lovely", I sighed.

Alec laughed, just like his sister his voice and laughter was that of an angel. I tried not to think about their strange relationship. They were biological twins but I had caught them on several occasions making out. It was seriously twisted.

Thinking of Jane made me realize that she wasn't here, "Where's your sister?"

"She's down in Mexico with Demetri and Felix."

"Another Mexican disturbance?" I asked raising my eyebrow.

"Yes, two of the covens have caused quite an uprising. It seems that a few humans are getting to knowledgeable, we can't risk it."

"How did it get that bad?" If humans were discovering of the vampire existence then the Volturi had gotten behind.

"We were unaware, because they weren't killing a lot. There wasn't a massive death toll to tell us that we needed to get our asses in gear and start attacking. It snuck up on us."

I chuckled, "And yet I'm going to Egypt, it sounds like you could use my help in Mexico."

"No, we don't."

"If you say so", I downed the rest of my drink.

"I'm shocked that there are vampires here in this town. Don't you werewolves keep them away from this territory?"

"They have a contract with us."

Alec snorted, "I thought you knew better than to trust vampires."

"They're not like normal vampires, they don't hunt humans."

"Oh, you mean the Cullen's", Alec said.

"You know the Cullen's?"

"Not exactly, I know Carlisle. I was there when he first arrived at Volterra. I remember his ridiculous belief."

I shook my head, "It's only ridiculous to you, Alec. I think it's noble."

Edward POV

I went to Bella's house and listened to her conversation with Alec. It had been a long time since I had heard Alec's name in casual conversation. He was a member of the Volturi and from the sound of their conversation, so was she.

I decided that it was time to make my presence known. I knocked on her front door. Bella opened the door for me and stepped out of the way.

I walked in and smelled the air. I looked to the couch expecting that he had already rushed off, but he was just sitting there. "Bella, what is a Volturi member doing here?"

Alec laughed, "Keeping secrets as usual, I see." He said merrily.

"Stay out of this, Alec." Bella snapped. Then she looked at me, "He's my friend."

"It sounded like something else from what I heard." I said.

"And your busted too boot", Alec continued, laughing.

Bella turned toward Alec, "I told you, stay out of this." She turned toward me, "I happen to agree with the Volturi that vampires must remain a secret." Her voice was evasive, just as it had been when she spoke of her father.

"This had to do with your dad, doesn't it?" I asked

"Definitely busted", Alec said.

"Stay out of this", Bella snapped. "Yes, it does."

"How?" I asked.

"It doesn't matter", Bella said dismissively. She turned toward Alec, "Do I have a deadline?"

"Of course", Alec said simply.

"When?" Bella asked.

"A week", Alec responded.

"Thanks Alec, you probably ought to leave town before the wolves catch on to your scent." Bella said.

"You're probably right." Alec said. He got up and left out the back door.

"Explain", I said.

"After my father was changed I took him to a place where I knew he would be protected. In trade for them protecting him I agreed to help protect the vampire world by taking care of disturbances."

"And he was here to tell you a job, am I correct?"

"Didn't you hear the conversation?"

"I only caught the tail end."

"I'm supposed to take care of a coven in Egypt, and bring in the younger members."

"Egypt, as in the Egyptian coven?" I asked, suddenly worried.

"I guess, I don't really know."

"Do you know their names?"

"Yeah, they're Amun, Kebi, Benjamin, and Tia."

"What's the reason that they are to be taken care of?"

"I don't really know, nor do I care. I have a don't ask, don't tell policy with the Volturi."

"You can't destroy them."

"I sort of have to, I won't risk my father."

"You can't do it, they're Carlisle's friends."

"Lovely", Bella muttered.

**A.N.: **Please review.

**A.N. 2: **I have a poll up and I need help deciding. I am planning on starting another New Moon rewrite, and want to know which one of my three I should do first. They are described on my profile.


	24. Rage

**A.N.: **Thank you

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 24 – Rage

Bella POV

Lovely, just lovely I thought as I muttered, "And this is why I haven't seriously been involved in any way with anyone for sixty years."

Edward shook his head, "You can't kill them, Bella, they're my friends."

"I can't not kill them, Edward; I will not risk my father's life. You of all people should understand that. You, who loved me so much that you left to protect me. I will not let my father die. Besides I don't want to get on Aro's bad side. I'm smarter then that, and though I don't believe I can be killed if there was anyone that could do it, it would be Aro."

"Bella, Carlisle has known them for near three centuries. I've known them for about half that time. You can't kill them."

"What do you not get about 'I don't have a choice'? This is not an option for me. I have protected my father since I discovered him. I will continue to protect him."

"If you wanted your father protected so badly, why did you take him to the Volturi? You should have brought him to us; we could have protected him without any strings."

I snapped, was he an absolute idiot, or just acting like one? "Damn it, Edward. I had no clue whatsoever as to where any of you were. I had no idea if any of you even still existed let alone if you guys actually wanted to see me. I didn't know how to find any of you. I did however know where the Volturi were. It was obvious where they were once I found a map. The Volturi live in Volterra, strikingly similar words. It wasn't like with your family, I had no clue where any of you were.

"You think that working for those leeches is what I want? You have no idea how hard it is for me to work with the parasites that I once swore to kill, but it's my father. I will not abandon him when it is my fault that he is like this. I will continue to protect him, if that means that I must kill a million others, then that is what I'll do. And frankly I don't want to piss the Volturi off." I was past upset now, I was enraged.

Edward cocked his head seeming shocked at my outburst. "What is your opinion on me?"

I let out a bitter laugh. I knew right now my face probably looked colder then a pissed off vampire. "Currently, I'd say my thoughts about you would be somewhere between that son of a bitch, Vladimir, who I met in Romania and the asshole, Felix, of the Volturi. Normally, however, I normally think the world of you."

I headed toward the kitchen, but I didn't go to the alcohol. I may have quit the drugs, but that didn't mean that I no longer kept any. I was in a bad mood now; it was a shock that I hadn't shifted. In spite of my rage I was in perfect control of my form.

I went into the drawer where I kept my small stash of drugs. In all reality, it was enough to keep a drug lord a float for several months. I pulled a small bag out with several pills. It was ecstasy, and enough to kill a normal human. I wasn't normal though and all this amount would do was knock me out for a few hours, if I took them all. I wasn't going to take them all though as all I wanted was a temporary fix.

I slipped two of the pills out and swallowed them whole. Now hear was a problem with ecstasy. It took much more time then I liked to start working, but in my current fury I had to do something. I wasn't willing to use more PCP anytime soon.

"Edward, you have to understand that there aren't very many options for me. If I do something stupid and piss Aro off it will be the death of my father. I also risk him figuring out a way to kill me. I know that Aro tries. He doesn't like that I'm virtually invincible. He wants me dead, but as long as I don't do anything against his will he can't attack me.

"Eventually I will slip up, but I am not going to risk both my father's and my life on purpose. I have to protect my father. It was impossible for me to personally take care of my father. I didn't have the knowledge to help him; I didn't have the stomach to watch him hunt humans. I had no idea where any of you were. I didn't know where to go, or who to take him to. I took him to the one place that I knew he could be protected.

"Of course, even before I took him there I realized that they wouldn't protect him without a trade. I was prepared. I mean I am virtually indestructible. Even an absolute idiot would think that I was a valuable asset. Aro is no fool, and as far as I can tell he never has been. He realizes all too well what a valuable asset I am, and what a powerful enemy I could be. He gave me what I wanted after I traded my services, but should I ever start getting peachy with him he won't hesitate to try and kill me.

"It's a difficult situation for him and me. The last thing that either of us need is for me to try and take the law into my own hands. It isn't my place to decide which of your kind live and die. I am only a deliverer. I deliver death, I do not question it. In that place Aro knows what's best." I finished.

"You can't be serious?" Edward scoffed.

"I am dead serious. I am responsible for what happened to my father. I will not let him die; I will continue to safe-keep him. It is my responsibility to my father to protect him. He may not…" My mouth snapped shut and I gritted my teeth. That was one thing that I didn't want Edward to ever discover.

"He may not, what?" Edward asked.

"I don't have to explain myself to you", I snapped. I headed toward the stairs of up to my room, but Edward was in front of me before I had a chance to escape. Damn, fast vampire.

"He may not, what?" Edward asked again, this time there was a menacing edge.

"I will not tell you a single thing. Alec, Aro, the Volturi, well, you see, they're my friends. I will not ruin that friendship." I roughly shoved him to the side and continued to the stairs.

I managed to get to my room without him stopping me again. I pulled a large duffel bag out of my closet. I reached up on the top shelf that was in my closet and pulled out a box. The box was made of black leather and on the top embroidered in gold thread was my name. I opened the lid and pulled out a folded white garment.

"What's that?" Edward asked more subdued than before.

"It's my cape. You know my Volturi Attire." I explained. All of the other Volturi members had gray or black robes. I on the other hand had a snow white robe. According to Aro white was the true color of death.

I placed the robe in my duffel bag and turned back to my closet. I seriously wished that Alec had been more specific. I wouldn't mind knowing what I should pack. Damn, I sounded like Alice, but then again it was one of my tastes that had seriously changed since I had become a werewolf–scratch that–a shape-shifter.

"What are you thinking about?" Edward asked.

"Trying to figure out what I should take. I really would like to know what kind of attire I should wear." I explained.

"That doesn't sound like you, Bella." I could hear a slight smile in his voice in spite of his chastising voice.

"Yeah, well I developed a taste for clothing after I was changed. Besides, it's hot enough in Egypt without being overdressed. With the temperature I have it is positively sweltering in Egypt."

"You sound like you've been there before, did the Volturi already send you once."

"More like Marsha sent me. I swore I'd never return again, but then again that was fifty years ago."

"You're not just going to go there."

"Oh", my voice was terrifying even to me, "Really, and I suppose you think you are going to stop me."

"I think we are going to return to my family and discuss this."

"And if I refuse?"

"You won't"

My eyes narrowed, "What are you saying?"

He was less than an inch away from me in an instant. "I'm saying you can come with me the easy way, or we can make it hard. Either way this will be discussed." His hand grabbed my chin and he pressed his mouth on mine.

There was a roughness that actually wasn't unlike the way Jacob used to kiss me. A moment later he pulled away, "This will be discussed." He said with finality.

**A.N.: **Once again I have mentioned a drug. This time it is ecstasy, I cannot stress enough that though I mention these drugs casually I do not recommend using them. Not only are the legal punishments horrid should you be caught, but the withdrawal symptoms when you finally do stop are painful, and there is a plausible chance of overdose which can lead to death. Drugs or the use of them should _**NOT**_ be taken lightly. _Please review._


	25. Meeting

**A.N.: **Thank you for the reviews, the faves, the alerts, and just reading.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 25 – Meeting

Alice POV

Edward was pretty much dragging Bella into the house. Her car was parked outside. "Damn it, Edward. They don't really have a say in my business with the Volturi. It isn't in their hands." Bella said.

"It became our business, when your business started messing with our friends." Edward adamantly disagreed.

"I disagree." Bella said coming to stop in the living room, and crossing her arms in front of Edward.

"I told you that this would be discussed, and it will be." Edward snapped.

"Really, and who here is going to stop me if I walk out that door right now." Bella said with a defiant tone.

"I'll stop you", Edward said.

"Oh, this should be interesting. How do you expect to stop me? Do you think you know how to kill me? I'd like to see you try. Do you think you can restrain me? Once again, I'd like to see you try. Think about this, Edward. For the last seventy years I have fought for the Volturi. I have gone down to Mexico completely by myself and taken on a dozen vampires at a time. You really think you can stop me." Bella said. Her voice was ice cold.

"You won't harm me, so it should be easy to restrain you." Edward said.

Her voice got even colder as she said the next words. "I'm not like you Edward. I hurt the ones I love."

I moved so that I could get a better look at Bella. Her eyes were flat, but not like when we had first met up with her. This wasn't dead at all; this was a hard anger like I had never seen.

"I don't believe you", Edward said.

Bella laughed, "Then you are a fool. Look at my tract record for just a few minutes. We all call vampires the killers, we all call their hearts frozen in time, but look at me. I have lost track of how many vampires I have hunted down and killed. I have forgotten how many humans I have been the death of. I am a killer in the truest form."

"You can't be serious. I know you, Bella." Edward exclaimed.

"Not really. You knew me, eighty-nine years ago, you knew me. That's a long time, and a lot of things have changed. I may look like an eighteen year old girl, I may have some teen hormones, but I have mentally aged. I have changed. I am not the innocent human that you knew eighty-nine years ago. I am a hardened killer. I have spent years hardening my heart to emotions of any kind. I have lived a life of blood and fire. I'm not an innocent human. I'm not an eighteen year-old girl." Bella said.

"Yeah, you've changed, but that isn't a bad thing." Edward said.

Bella laughed again, this time it had a melancholy undertone. "If you're talking about my sexual tendencies then yeah that ain't that bad. If you scratch the fact that I spent over five years in god only knows how many different men's beds for money. Other then that though, I don't know how anyone could think that my tendencies weren't bad. I drink enough alcohol to die of cirrhosis of the liver at least twice a month. I've done every drug you can think of, and then some. I've killed humans for the fun of it. I've hunted down vampires without even a second thought. I've tortured both vampires and humans without a twinge of guilt. I'm not an innocent little girl anymore." Bella looked away and muttered. "I'm not sure if I ever have been"

"Whether you are innocent or not anymore is not what is being discussed. If you have changed for the better or worse is not in question. The fact that you have been assigned to hunt down some of our friends is what is in question." Edward said.

"And once again I have to wonder who will stop me if I decide to leave. Do you really believe that you're that strong? Do you really believe you could stop me?" Bella asked.

I was sort of annoyed because I couldn't see a thing so I didn't know exactly what was going on. Edward didn't answer for several seconds and when he finally did, it was softly. "No, I don't think I could stop you if you wanted to leave, but I don't believe that you want to leave. I believe that you don't want to hurt me, so by definition you also wouldn't want to hurt them as that would hurt me emotionally. I also believe you don't want to leave, because as you just pointed out, you would already be gone if you wanted to leave."

She looked away from Edward, and her eyes landed on her left hand. There on her ring finger was a ring I hadn't noticed before, but I would recognize it anywhere. It was Edward's mother's ring. Bella looked at it for a moment and she looked away from it as well. She pulled the ring off her finger and placed her hand out for Edward to take it. "I think you should take this back Edward, there's a lot about me that you don't know."

Edward reached out and closed her fist around the ring. "No, Bella, this development was unexpected, but I still love you."

"And I hurt the ones I love." Bella whispered.

"I don't believe that, and I won't. If that was the case then you wouldn't be protecting your father." Edward said.

"Well, Edward, why don't you tell them why I'm here?" Bella said.

"She's a member of the Volturi, and has been assigned to kill the Egyptian coven and take in their youngest member." Edward said.

His words made the rest of the family appear. Previously they had at least been semi-ignoring their conversation, but with the mention of Egypt they all came to attention. In an instant they were all in the living room.

"What have the Egyptians done do bring down the Volturi's wrath?" Carlisle asked.

Bella turned toward Carlisle and her eyes softened slightly. "I don't know, and as a general rule, I don't care. Ever since I became a member I don't ask questions. If Aro has found them guilty of something, then that is all I need. Aro understands the ways of your world, Aro commends the laws. I don't pretend to get them. They are beyond me."

"So you kill without asking as to why you're doing it?" Carlisle asked

"Pretty much, yeah, it's what I do. When I first started working for him, I asked lots of questions. I wanted reasons for everything; I wanted to know why I was doing stuff. After about twenty years I stopped wasting my time. I stopped asking all of those questions and instead I just did what I was told." Bella explained.

"How long have you been a Volturi member?" I asked placing myself in the conversation.

"Seventy years, but actually I don't believe that I have ever been a Volturi member. I am more like his prized dog then an actual member. I am strong, very strong. I could probably kill half of the Volturi guard but I am probably the lowest rank in them. I have no status." Bella said and looked away.

Jasper–who was now beside me–tilted his head, "You lie, why do you lie?"

Bella sighed, "I truly don't hold any status among the guard. They treat me like dirt, well Alec doesn't but he's an exception. I do have rank within the leaders. Aro thinks of me as his own little pet. He has treated me fairly well throughout the years. In Ecuador I have a fleet of vehicles. He bought the majority of them for me."

"So you could call in a favor with Aro?" Carlisle said.

"I might be able to, he won't be happy about it though." Bella said.

"Could you get him cancel this attack?" I asked.

"I can ask, I can make a point, but no matter what I do it's going to cost me. If I ask to either be removed from this situation or give them amnesty for their crimes I will have to put up something in return." Bella explained, "Nothing comes for free when it comes to Aro."

Edward seemed to realize what she was saying, "You say it will cost you, like what type of cost."

"I don't know. I might be sent to China to hunt down vampires by myself. I might be sent down to Mexico and have to deal with that by myself. I might have to go through a series of tests. I might have to go live with the Volturi._ Felix_ likes me." Bella said. Her tone suggested that the feelings between Felix and her weren't mutual.

"China, why China?" Jasper asked.

"China's similar to Mexico. It's a constant war zone; the only difference is that China isn't so callous. China has a very strategic fighting style. They're very smart and are very good at hiding. The last time I went to China I went with half a dozen Volturi members. Two of them didn't make it back. The fighters in China are well trained." Bella explained.

Carlisle spoke again, "Would you at least ask him why?"

"I'll ask and I'll try, but don't expect great results." Bella said. She pulled a small cell phone out and walked into the next room.

Bella POV

"_Why, Bella, what a pleasant surprise." _Aro said as he answered.

"Hello Aro." I replied. I couldn't believe I was about to stick my nose where it didn't belong, but what wouldn't someone do for love?

"_To what do I owe this honor?" _Aro asked sarcastically, his voice told me he already knew. That meant Alec was still nearby, and somehow that didn't surprise me.

"I want to know what the Egyptians did." I said. I didn't beat around the bush.

"_Aw, this is why I love you, Bella. You don't dawdle in small talk. They've had it coming for quite sometime. I just finally decided to stop handing out freebies to my old friend." _Aro said.

My voice went flat, "That wasn't what I wanted." I could sense some of the Cullen's behind me, but I didn't look to see which ones it was.

"_Now, now, Bella, you don't need to know why." _Aro answered.

"Damn it, Aro, don't mess around with me. What have they done that is bringing down my wrath?" I said my voice dangerously low.

Aro seemed unaffected by my voice. His stayed jovial. _"Now, Bella, what are you willing to place in trade."_

I took in a breath, "I'm not asking for anything except a simple why. You owe me that much Aro. Your law is condemning them, so what have they done."

Aro sighed, _"If you must know, Bella. We have reason to believe that they have left human's suspicious. There are several rumors spreading about vampires in that area. We need to stop these rumors. You know the law of vampires, Bella. Our secret must be kept at all costs."_

It was my turn to sigh, "If that is the case then why am I suppose to allow Benjamin and Tia to live."

"_We believe that they weren't taught correctly. We believe Amun failed to train them. I want to give them a chance to make up for their creator's transgressions. I want to… train them properly. Then they will be allowed their freedom." _Aro said.

"Okay, Aro, you know that I know better then that. Don't feed me bullshit. I know that once you get your hands on that boy you'll never let him quit the Volturi." I said.

Aro laughed, _"I suppose your right, Bella. Now, let's talk about why you really called. You want to let them live, you don't want to kill them. What are you willing to trade?"_

"I'll come and live there for a few years." I said. I grimaced at the thought, but usually that was the trade he liked to hear.

"_You know me well, Bella, but that won't do. Not this time. You're with the Cullen's right now, right?" _Aro said.

I stiffened and didn't reply.

"_I'll take that as a yes. Well, I've had my eyes on that little female for quite some time, Alice, I believe it is. And let me not forget her mate, Jasper, right? They would both be welcome additions to the ranks of the Volturi guard." _Aro said.

My voice dropped even farther. "Forget it, Aro. They'll be killed just the way you want them, but I will not promise that I will bring Benjamin back. You never know with me. I might get a little trigger happy with the killings." I snapped the phone shut. I didn't turn toward the Cullen's, "It look's like I'm going to Egypt."

**A.N.: **Please review.


	26. Flight

**A.N.: **Thank you for getting me to one hundred and thirteen reviews, for the faves, the alerts, and just reading in general.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 26 – Flight

Bella POV

I had tried, I seriously had, but there just was no way around it. I was on a mission now. There was no way that I couldn't kill them, that possibility had left the window about a day ago. Now, I was halfway to Egypt in a private jet that had conveniently been waiting for me at the Seattle airport. The Cullen's were about three hour behind me in a public plane. I didn't like it, not in the slightest.

The plane had one pilot who conveniently was a vampire, and one steward who was a human. The steward was good with the alcohol. I was certain I was going to be drunk by the time I landed.

I loved Edward, I truly did, _but_–and I had to add the but–my life wasn't for him. My world wasn't for him. I was a different woman then when he had left me, and not all of me was good. It wasn't like I didn't know it either. I tried to play off my changes by calling them 'fun'. I claimed that my alcoholic tendencies were because of the men that I had loved and lost, and that was part of it, but the truth was that it wasn't the only part. In truth while I was able to kill without too much consideration after a few weeks the murder or murders would start to haunt me. Be them human or vampire, I just couldn't kill someone guilt free. The humans I had killed always haunted me, so did the vampires. I had told Edward that I had lost count of how many I had killed, but that was a lie. I knew every kill I had ever made, every single one of them was permanently ingrained in both my heart and my mind.

Yet, on the other end of the spectrum I wouldn't change my life for anything. True, I found being pretty much un-killable a pain in the ass, but I loved my life. I liked being able to kill vampires, I didn't like the guilt afterwards, but I liked the thrill. I liked the rush of adrenaline that came as I tore them apart. I even liked killing humans, to an extent. The rush was the same, and the want. I enjoyed the hunt, I enjoyed the lust. It wasn't exactly a bloodlust as I didn't thirst for the blood, but it was similar.

I knew that Edward meant well, that the Cullen's met well, but they couldn't help here. I had already tried to save their friends, and well, there was only so much I could do. In spite of the way Aro usually treated me, I had limits. I just didn't have the kind of position that would have saved the Egyptian's. I had stepped out of line to even ask, and there wasn't anything else I could do.

I looked up at the steward, "Another glass of scotch, please?" I requested.

"Right away, ma'am." It was obvious from the look in his eyes and his unnaturally pale skin, that he knew what vampires were. He probably knew what I was as well. It didn't really shock me, he worked for the Volturi. The Volturi usually didn't leave their human lackeys in the dark. It was interesting how many humans that worked for them, yet how few ever got turned.

Jerome, the pilot was actually one of the few that had been changed. In matter of fact he had only been a vampire for thirty years. The steward brought me my drink and then went back to his seat that he seemed to be content to pretend he was hiding in. Jerome was a lot like me. He had joined the Volturi as a human wanting to be a vampire, but now that he was one he had a hard time killing what he once was. He had a conscience which was a rarity in the Volturi.

I made it look like the kills didn't touch my mind; that they didn't continually haunt me, but that wasn't the truth. By the time I had made my first human kills almost seventeen years after becoming a Volturi member I had been able to harden the side of me that people saw so that it didn't look like it bothered me. Now, well I enjoyed the act but the later guilt was hard for me to deal with.

Jerome was a vampire with a conscience. I had a feeling that he would prefer the Cullen's lifestyle. I wouldn't dare suggest it though. I was at large enough odds with Aro as it was without adding more kindle to the fire. I told him that I might kill Benjamin instead but he and I both knew that it was nothing but an empty threat. I wouldn't do anything that would threaten my father's life. Aro knew it, I knew it, so my bluffs were pointless.

I downed the drink.

Jasper POV

I had been surprised that Bella had even tried to save the Egyptians, yet she had. She hadn't even personally known them yet she had stuck her rear on the line to try. Bella may say she had changed, but she hadn't really changed that much in reality.

She could lie all she wanted to the others, even Edward and Alice, now, as both of their abilities were completely ineffective on her. She couldn't lie to me though. Her true emotions gave her away. She had loved Edward and our family so much that she was willing to risk her father's life to do us a favor. She loved Edward quite a lot. The other complete emotion that I had felt in her body was guilt. Even with the alcohol that she had drowning the emotion it was still very much there. Her guilt was encompassing and I wasn't certain why it was there. I had felt the guilt several times from her but it had always been a less frontward emotion. The other emotion I had noticed was not anger, jealousy, or rage exactly, but it had been dark. At first I could hardly sense it but when she had spoke with Aro and her voice had gone cold the emotion defined her.

I was certain that it was this dark emotion that she was thinking about when she spoke of how she had changed. She had been dead serious every time she said that she had changed, and now I had a feeling that it was this emotion. I had felt it in Marsha as well. Even Lynn and Leah hah had a spark of it. I wasn't certain but I thought that I had felt it in Nicole as well. The twins didn't seem to have the emotion, but perhaps they were to new. I hadn't noticed it in Seth, Gary, or Embry. It had only been in the females.

Whatever it was it seemed to be her drive behind hunting these vampires down. It was much more all encompassing then her desire to protect her father. I didn't understand the emotion and I had never felt it before, but there was something about it that was driving her. Yeah, she really did want to protect her father, even stay on Aro's good side, but there was a darker reason for her doing this.

**A.N.: **Please review.

**A.N. 2: **Okay I have a lot of reasons to be happy today. The first is that my daughter is a year old today, yahoo. The second is that my husband snagged tickets to the grand opening of New Moon in Las Angeles, hooray. The third is I have two brand new stories out, the first is Gods Of War and the second is Red Nights, I also introduced Death Burn a little over a week ago. Also if you ever tire of my stories or want to start reading another I seriously recommend The Tempted Lioness by Trumarine and Eighty Years Later by Twilight-HP-Lover both are great stories.


	27. Egypt

**A.N.: **Thank you for getting me to one hundred and twenty reviews, for the faves, the alerts, and just reading it in general.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 27 – Egypt

Bella POV

God, it was hot in Egypt. Why couldn't Aro ever send me somewhere nice to hunt down vampires at, like, oh, I don't know, Antarctica? Now that would be a nice change. No, I get sent to the hottest damn countries on the planet. Now, Russia, I wouldn't mind him sending me back there, instead of another hell hole such as this place.

I smiled as I headed away from the city. I already knew that the Egyptians wouldn't be in town. I actually don't believe that the Egyptians are responsible, even if there are myths being spread. I doubt the Cullen's would be friends with them if they were like that, of course what would that say about my future. I guess I probably shouldn't assume but how could I help myself.

It wasn't hard for me to kill vampires, and I wouldn't even have regrets for what I was about to do if it weren't for the Cullen's. Yet, how could I kill someone they were friends with?

I caught onto the trail of vampires, and followed it. The Cullen's wouldn't be stopping me this time. There was nothing they would be able to do that could stop me. I wouldn't risk my father's life, and I wouldn't let anything happen to them. If I had to kill someone else I would. Death was a part of life.

The scent was now a lot stronger, and I was a good distance from any civilization. I stripped, strapping the clothes to my leg and let the fire take over my body. The conversion from human to wolf was quick, though not quite painless, it was never painless.

I took off at a steady run toward the stench. It stunk a lot worse in this form. My feet left small imprints in the sand as I ran smoothly across it. I smiled to myself as the smell got stronger. This was going to be fun.

I didn't sneak up on them exactly, that would have been impossible. They were, however, unprepared. There were four of them just as I had been told, two male, two female. All four had an olive tone in their skin. The one showed slight signs of age, he was the male I assumed to be Amun. There was a female that seemed similar in age, and I assumed she was Kebi. The two younger ones not only seemed younger in vampire years, but in physical years as well. They were Benjamin and Tia.

I launched myself at the older male and my teeth sunk into his shoulder. His mate threw me off of him in half of a second, and then the sand was blowing around. I was completely blind over three inches in front of me. Beneath me the ground rumbled.

I still had smell and hearing though, and I used them. I ran through the created sand storm, head down, and straight to a vampire dead ahead of me. I lunged at the vampire, and it turned out to be the younger female. My clawed paw hit her throat, but she grabbed my wrist and threw me.

Once again I found myself in the storm of sand. This time it was a lot stronger. There was no way I'd be able to break through this storm. I heard a voice speak, and at first I understood absolutely nothing that he said. It was in some foreign language. He spoke for a long time; I believe he was going through several languages. Finally the man came to English. "Change back to your human form, now, or I'll leave you trapped in that storm."

I did as I was told, because I really didn't have much of a choice. I pulled back on my pants and shirts. Then I put on my Volturi cape, and waited. I shouldn't be waiting on those that I should be killing, but what other choice did I have. It wasn't like a sand storm, at all; it was more like a solid brick wall.

"I'm no longer a wolf", I shouted.

The wall of sand came down, and all four stared at me in shock. "You're a female", the one that I assume was Amun spluttered.

"That's correct; I'm also a Volturi member." I said.

Amun snorted, "Yeah right, you expect me to believe that the Volturi would ever associate themselves with vermin like you."

I laughed darkly, "I don't expect you to really believe anything, and I don't care if you do either."

"If you are a Volturi member, then why were you attacking us?" Amun snapped.

"Aro ordered it", I said simply. I wasn't going to say anything else, but changed my mind. He wouldn't live long enough to repeat it. "Besides, Aro wants that boy for his own." I pointed at Benjamin.

"What is the charge?" Amun asked angrily.

"He told me that you guys have been living too carelessly. He believes that you didn't train your young ones correctly, and wants me to right that wrong. He believes you and your mate should be killed because you have started rumors in the town. They are to be taken in." I said stonily.

"What if we refuse to go?" The young female asked.

"Your life is negotiable, I don't have to let you live. As for him, well your kind can be reassembled." I said.

Alice POV

We landed, and soon found the plane that Bella had been on. She hadn't been on it for several hours. There were others on the plane though, two of them to be precise. "We're going to go searching for, Bella, why don't you check out the plane?" Edward said.

I nodded as they left, and then I walked on the plane to find a human huddling in a seat. The man took one look at me and let out a squeak.

In the cockpit a man called to him, "Is there something wrong, Matt?"

The man that I now presumed was Matt looked at me. He then looked to the cockpit, "N…n…no…nothing, Jerom…m…me."

"You suck at lying, you know that, right?" Jerome said back and I heard him get up. A second later he entered into the main compartment. He looked at me for a second, and then looked back at Matt and chuckled. "You really suck at lying", and then he turned to me, "You must be one of the Cullen's, and I presume you're Alice by the size."

"How do you know my name?" I asked.

"Bella used to tell us all about the Cullen's, back before she found you guys; that was. Of course, now she won't say one word about the lot of you." Jerome said.

"Does he know what we are?" I asked nodding my head toward Matt.

"Of course, terrified of our kind to boot", Jerome said.

"If he's one of your workers, shouldn't he be more used to our kind?" I asked.

"Well he wasn't someone that we discovered and taught. He was about ten years old when he saw his family killed by a vampire. Why the vampire left him alive we don't really know. He started telling the townsfolk, so we came in and captured him. Caius wanted to kill him instantly, but Aro was in a generous mood, so in exchange for his servitude we let him live. He's actually smarter than the rest of our idiot employees, he sees us for what we really are, a threat to mankind. He tried killing Felix once, practically was the death of him. Aro found it amusing though, so once again he was allowed to live." Jerome said.

"Why are they just letting him live?" I asked.

Jerome smiled, "Aro wants to change him; he believes that Matt will make a great Volturi member."

"Why is that?" I asked.

"We believe that he'll have an ability after he's changed. Aro wants to see what kind of an ability it will be. But we want him to agree to being changed, first." Jerome said.

Matt, who had previously been cowering, suddenly looked defiant, "It won't happen."

"Of course, then again we might eventually tire of his theatrics and just change him." Jerome finished.

**A.N.: **Please review


	28. Released

**A.N.: **Thank you for getting me to one hundred and twenty-two reviews.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 28 – Released

Edward POV

We finally got to Bella and she stood about thirty feet from the Egyptians in her human form. They seemed at a standoff as we came up. Bella didn't acknowledge my existence as we walked up. We stopped about thirty feet from her making her right in between our two covens.

"Carlisle, what are you doing here?" Amun asked.

Bella crossed her arms. "You aren't going to avoid this", she snapped.

"I wasn't talking to you." Amun snapped at her.

"I know who you are talking to, and frankly I don't care. I am the one that you need to worry about, not them. I am not in the mood for you to ignore me, I do not like being ignored, and if you choose to ignore me then I will not wait patiently. I don't care for your kind and I have no qualms in killing vampires." Her voice instilled fear even in me. I remembered how Jasper had mentioned that her voice was terrifying when he had first discovered that she was still alive.

"I will do as I like." Amun said.

Bella turned around, looked at us, and spoke. "Well tell him why you're here"

"We came because of Bella here; she is my son, Edward's mate." Carlisle said.

Bella remained impassive at the mention of our relationship. She turned around to look at the Egyptian's again.

"If she's yours then you better call her off." Amun said.

"I am not a dog", Bella snapped indignantly.

"Yes, you are." Amun replied.

A quiver passed through her body before she calmed herself. "Amun, you are extremely lucky that I am ninety years old and not young. If I was young you would no longer be alive. I was extremely volatile in my youth, and I destroyed many vampires single handedly. Be careful what you say, for I am still very angry, and with the wrong word from you, you might not live long enough to regret it."

"Like I said call her off", Amun said looking past her to us.

"Bella, please, there has to be another way." I murmured.

Bella stayed perfectly still for the longest minute, and then slowly shook her head. "No, there isn't. There is far too much at stake."

"There has to be", I said.

Bella started pacing in a straight line, walking back and forth, keeping an equidistance from us and the Egyptians. Bella looked at the sand and refused to look back up. Her body was shaking slightly as she wore a path in the sand. Her footsteps were as quick as a vampire's though not quite as silent.

She finally stopped back in the center, turned to me, and glared. Then she looked to the Egyptians. "Run", Bella snapped.

"What?" The single syllable word was spoke by the Egyptians first and we reiterated it half of a second later.

"I said run, run leave, get out of here, and whatever you do, don't stop. Don't make me say it again." Bella said.

They looked at her for a minute before all four ran away from her and us. Bella stood there and watched them as they ran out of view. She stared off into the distance long after they were gone.

"Bella, let's go home." I said.

Bella shook her head, "I have to go to Volterra; I have to deliver this message in person."

"Okay, I'll go with you." I said.

"We'll all go with you." Carlisle said and continued in his thoughts. _It should be all or none._

"No, I can't protect all of you." Bella said.

"We don't need to be protected", Emmett said.

None of us were prepared for Bella's next move. She rushed Emmett in her human form, kicking him in the groin before spinning him around and shoving face first into the ground. Her knee pressed in between his shoulder blades, keeping him down. Her hands pulled his back arms back straining them so far back it almost ripped them from his shoulders. "Emmett, answer me, how do you plan on defending yourself against thirty plus vampires when you can't even defend yourself against me?" Bella said.

Emmett was in too much pain to answer, and Bella seemed satisfied with his lack of response. She got off of him, "You guys coming with me would only be to my detriment."

Her sudden show of strength not only shocked most of my family, but convinced them to lay off. They quickly agreed to let her go alone, I, on the other hand, didn't budge. "I will go with you." I said.

Bella looked right at me; her face was hard and cold. "Don't follow me, Edward. This will be hard enough for me without you there. The last thing I need is for them to have more fuel. I just guaranteed my father's death to save your friends, so do this for me and let me do this on my own." Bella's voice was colder than I had ever heard it.

I couldn't think of a response, and she stalked past me without a single word.

Bella POV

I understood why Edward wanted to come, but I didn't want him to die to. I had just assured that my father would be killed, that I would be tortured, and stripped of my cloak. I wanted to mourn in silence, and I didn't want Edward to know what was going to happen. I had to face the consequences for my actions, I knew that. I would face them in silence, it wasn't Edward's fault. I headed off to meet my fate.

**A.N.: **I have a poll on my profile involving this story. It has to do with the prequel to this story which I will entitle Crimson Meteor. In the poll are all the chapter possibilities, some actually occur during and after this story, but most occur before. Even if you don't review and just read please go on my profile and vote. I'm sorry that it was a short chapter. It was sort of necessary. Please forgive me and PLEASE REVIEW.

**A.N. 2: **I wanted to notify you that for any stories I will be writing sometime in the future their summaries are on my profile toward the bottom of my page just above the image links.


	29. Time

**A.N.: **Thank you for getting me to one hundred and thirty-two reviews, for the faves, the alerts, and for just reading it.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 29 – Time

Edward POV

It had been a week and Bella still wasn't back. I was worried sick that Bella might somehow be dead, and I didn't know what to do. She had told me not to go to Volterra, and I had respected her wishes, but I didn't know how long I could go. I wanted, no, I needed to know she was alright.

There had been no contact from her, and I was worried sick. I was currently out hunting under the hopes it would distract me, but of course it didn't. I was so worried about Bella that I didn't even hear someone come up on me until a twig snapped.

I spun around and found Nicole standing under a tree with a tight smile on her face. Her hand was around a branch above her, and she seemed ill at ease. "Bella wanted me to tell you that she's alright, that she'll be home soon, but that it would probably be best not to come and see her at the current time."

"Did she tell you why?" I asked.

"No, but it wouldn't take much for me to guess. Her emotions were a wreck, physically I believe she was injured, and she seemed to be in a state of rage. Her mind was a blur of images, most of which I couldn't catch, but I did catch a white cape, fire, and red eyes, lots of them. In her current situation I'm sort of shocked that she even thought to tell you not to worry. If I had been her I know it would have been the last thing on my mind."

"What other mental images did you catch?"

Nicole reached her other hand up, grasped the branch firmly, and swung up. She let go of the branch when angled directly above it. She flipped and landed on her feet on the branch. She balanced as she walked away from the base of the tree and out to the extremity of the branch. "You know, you'd think I wouldn't like being up in trees, me being a wolf and all, but it really doesn't bother me.

"As for your question, there were quite a lot of images. I saw three males in black cloaks, two had dark hair, and the other had white hair. There was an old man who had red eyes, he didn't have a cloak like the rest, and he was being forced to kneel because there were four vampires in gray cloaks holding him down. I saw a fancy diamond ring that looked like an antique ring, and I saw some large room that was completely empty. The room was made of brick, there was a large post near the wall, it went clear from the floor to the ceiling where it bent and reached out to the center of the room."

Nicole paused and shut her eyes, "At the end of the post was a thick rope that hung for about two feet. It looked similar to a hang man's noose, but it was used for a whipping post. A man with lots of muscles–I believe he was called Santiago–tied Bella's hands up; her feet didn't touch the ground. The man had a bull whip with glass shards at the end, no, it was diamond chips. He whipped her with it multiple times."

"You mentioned she was physically wounded, how bad?"

"The injuries felt bad but they were healing rapidly. I'm sure that by tomorrow they'll be completely healed."

I couldn't help but notice her face, she still didn't seem very comfortable. "Is there more?" I asked.

Nicole cocked her head and thought for a minute, "No." She sat down at the edge of the branch and let both of her legs hang freely.

"Then why do you look so bad?" I asked.

Nicole looked mystified for a second, and then she started laughing. "That would be because of you, Edward. Your kind reek and I'm not used to the smell." She said as she laid back against the branch.

Alice POV

None of us knew what was happening to Bella, or if she would come back. I couldn't tell because I couldn't see the wolves' futures. Obviously Edward was with one right now because his future had completely gone blank as well.

I was able to keep my mind preoccupied. I was planning for Bella's and Edward's wedding with everything I had. It was the only thing keeping my mind off of the possibilities. It wasn't doing a very good job though. Every few seconds my mind would wander through the possibilities of what they could be doing to her.

Bella said she couldn't die, but what if she was wrong. The worst part was that I hadn't been there when she said goodbye. I wasn't there for what might have been the last words that she'd ever say to us.

I returned to the wedding plans with a vengeance. I was looking over flower arrangements, some looked better than others. I finally found a grouping of flowers that suited my idea. It was seven types of white flowers with multiple clusters, and large plants which would help lay out my design. The seven types were foxglove, lobelia, hyacinth, cyclamen, crocus, narcissus, and peony.

I quickly moved on to Bella's bouquet before my mind traveled down another dark path. I already knew what bouquet I wanted as I had already seen it once before. It had five types of flowers, four of which were white. There was rose, lily of the valley, love-in-a-mist, snapdragon, and it was accented by the crimson flower love-lies-bleeding.

I wanted to consult with Bella before I picked out a dress. Her god-awful haircut seriously limited the good dress choices. If she never came back then all of my planning was wasted. What if she was wrong? She said she couldn't die but I wasn't certain as to if I believed it. What if she could? What if Bella died, or was already dead?

"Stop it, Alice, Bella will be fine." Jasper said gently.

"How can you be sure? I mean they could be torturing her, Aro could have figured out a way to kill her, she could be dead."

"She isn't dead, Alice. As for her being tortured, yes they probably are. She'll be alright though. She heals fast, and she'll be home soon."

"Aren't you worried about her at all?"

"Of course, so is everyone. It won't do you any good though. She will come home, I am certain of that."

"She's alright, Alice." Edward murmured as he walked through the door.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"Apparently Bella was in her wolf form recently and told Nicole to tell me that she was fine and would be home soon." Edward said.

"Good, I can go see her then." I said brightly.

"No, you can't. Nicole was also told to tell me that we shouldn't go and see Bella anytime soon."

"Why not?" I asked.

"If I had to take a guess, it would probably be because we forced her to save the Egyptians, and now her dad is most likely dead and she's been tortured." Edward said grimly.

"We didn't force her to do any such thing; in matter of fact, she made it quite clear that we couldn't force her to do something she didn't want to." I said.

"On the contraire, Alice, I could sense her emotions when Edward said that there had to be a way. I knew she was weighing her options and no matter what she couldn't hurt Edward. It's true none of the rest of us could have forced her to make that choice, but she would rather be killed than hurt Edward in any way." Jasper said.

"I thought that she wasn't really imprinted to him." I said.

"She isn't, but her emotions are as strong as an imprint. They were always like that, even when she was just a human. She always had extremely strong emotions for Edward. It was just that someone", he cut a glare at Edward before continuing, "Refused to believe that it was possible for a human to have those kinds of emotions." Jasper said.

I was about to comment, but Edward lost his temper. "Damn it, will I ever do anything right by her?" Edward's fist slammed into a vase.

**A.N.: **If you haven't already made chapter votes on the prequel yet, please do so before I finish this story. There will be somewhere between six and eleven more chapters left in this story before I finish. The more votes I have on the prequel chapter possibilities, the sooner the prequel will be up afterwards. As always, please review.

**A.N. 2: **There's a cool short story out called Dreaming by Trumarine, if you ever tire of my stuff or just want to read something a little different I recommend reading and reviewing that.


	30. Grief And Rage

**A.N.: **Thank you for getting me to one hundred and thirty-seven reviews, for the faves, the alerts, and for just reading.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 30 – Grief And Rage

Bella POV

I was inconsolable as I thought of what happened to my father. I had promised myself that I would always protect my father, and look at what had now happened. If the Volturi had the balls to show their face near me again I would tear them to shreds. I didn't blame Edward at all; it was my own fault, my own stupidity that had led to this. If I had been smart I would have never taken him to Volterra. It wasn't Edward's fault that they had destroyed my father; I just didn't want him to see me in my current position. I didn't want Edward to see how much like crap I looked, or for him to have to watch me down bottles of hard liquor.

It wasn't his fault that I couldn't get a handle on the fact that my father was gone. It wasn't his fault that I had made so many mistakes. I never should have come back to Forks. I never should have taken Charlie to the Volturi. I never should have done so many different things, but I had, and now it was too late. There was no one to blame but myself and I knew that all to well.

I had always been warned that when you played with fire you got burnt. Well, this time, I got torched. Everything that had led up to this point was my fault. I should have never trusted vampires. I had known better than that. I was a werewolf for crying out loud–correct that, I was a shape-shifter. Could I do nothing right?

I knew that Edward and the Cullen's were probably worried sick about me, but I couldn't see them in my condition. I couldn't risk losing it. I remembered feeling like this back when I was young, but I had long since lost these emotions. I felt volatile, easily angered, and uncontrollable. I knew that in my current state I would snap at the Cullen's as quickly as I would another.

I remembered how easily I tore Laurent's head off, and it was only the thought of Edward that had stopped me. In my current state of mind I seriously doubted that I'd be able to stop even if it was Edward.

The memories of the time that I had spent with the Volturi were like fuel to the fire. I had been faithful to them for seventy years, and after disobeying them once I was kicked out like the dog I was. It's all I would ever be to them. In all rights I knew that it should be all I was to the Cullen's as well. Hell, it probably was all that I was.

I pulled another of bottle of liquor off the shelf. What sounded too good to be true, usually was. I knew that if I saw any of the Cullen's in my current state I would either rip them to shreds, or I would run away from them. My blood was boiling from my rage, and my mind was spinning from my grief.

If I ever returned to Italy I would make sure that not a single member of the Volturi lived, but for now I would grieve in silence. I would try to gain control of my emotions, though I already knew it was a pointless hope. I needed to destroy something.

What I wouldn't give to have Marsha around right now. She would have found something reckless and completely stupid for me to do, and we would have done it together. We would have felt like asses and laughed about it, and she would have gotten my mind off of my predicament. It was too bad that Marsha was currently having a jovial time with the twins.

That night when I finally discovered Marsha's past, she had said a lot to me while we got drunk. Sometime during the shots she had made a casual like comment. Except now I realized that it wasn't. What were her exact words? She had been telling me something. She had known all along that my father was with the Volturi. We had both been half drunk, and I'm pretty sure she hadn't meant for it to slip. I remembered now, it was a poem;

_Like that of a god  
Farther from the truth  
And deeper in the past  
We delve truth from lies  
We realize there is no future  
Here where rock and air combine  
We find blood for blood  
And live with nothing more  
Our home_

_Our past  
We've been here before  
But never again  
Do we compare  
For light and darkness_

_Share so little_

_And because we ourselves  
Know where reality lies  
We find ourselves there_

What had she been saying? I knew there was underlying meaning, because everything that Marsha said had an underlying meaning. I knew this all too well, yet for the life of me I couldn't understand most of what it said. However, the 'blood for blood' made an awful lot of sense right now. Wasn't that exactly what I wanted? I wanted to see the Volturi burn for killing my father. I wanted to see them in a fiery inferno.

I wasn't getting drunk yet, and I knew why. I was sure that my current temperature was closer to 112º Fareinheit than the usual 108º Farenheit. I knew that when we got really angry our temperatures spiked, and with hotter temperatures it was harder to get drunk, because the body burned the effects of the alcohol off faster. I wished the alcohol would get to it though.

I knew that if the alcohol didn't take effect and soon; then I wouldn't be doing very good, at all. I knew I would soon change into my wolf form if I couldn't get control of my emotions. It just wasn't feasible for me to remain human in my current state. I was shocked that I actually had lasted as long as I had.

As I finished my third bottle of liquor I threw the empty bottle across the room, and it smashed against the wall. The one day that I desperately needed for the alcohol to work was the one that it didn't work. "Damn it", I swore under my breath.

One thing that I hadn't allowed myself the luxury of in a long time took me over. I fell to my knees and sobbed. Had I done everything I could to protect my father? Even if I had, which I knew I hadn't, it hadn't been enough. I curled into a ball–and let the tears that I hadn't shed in many years–fall.

Jasper POV

I wasn't sure if I wanted to do what Edward asked of me. Yet here I was, less than a mile from Bella's house. Edward wanted me to help Bella handle whatever emotions that were going through her. I couldn't blame Edward for asking me either, because I knew that if Alice was in some sort of prediciment and Edward could somehow help, I would be demanding it of him.

I knew that, but I also knew that Bella had never reacted well to me tampering with her emotions. And unlike when she was just a human she was now a deadly threat. Bella could physically harm anyone of us, and I already knew that she had a lust to fight and kill. It was finally what I managed to put to the dark emotion I felt in her. When she had been placed against the Egyptian's the emotion had been an all consuming one. It was then that I realized that the dark emotion was actually the lust for destruction. It had only been her love for Edward that had stopped her. I knew if he hadn't been there she wouldn't have stopped her attack.

I was actually sort of glad that it was me here. If there was anyone of of my family that could take her–should she lose control–it would be me. I had the most experience fighting out of all the Cullen's, so it was probably best that I was the one here.

As I got close to Bella's house her emotions hit me like a wrecking ball. Her rage was like an inferno, her guilt tore away at me like no emotion should, and her sadness caused me physical pain. I took a deep breath before I went any closer.

I started to knock, but changed my mind, and decided to try the door handle first. It turned, so I opened the door and walked in. Seeing Bella the way she currently looked was a shock. I had gotten used to Bella wearing skimpier outfits, but she was now wearing a fairly large gray t-shirt and rugged jeans. That wasn't the shocking part though. She was curled up into a tight ball, and was openly sobbing. On the floor near the far wall was a large amounts of glass, and I vaguely recognized it as pieces of a liquor bottle.

"Bella, let me help you." I whispered.

At first it seemed as if she hadn't heard me, but the she slowly looked to where I was. Her face was streaked with tears that still fell, and her eyes were bloodshot. She gave a slight nod, and then covered her face again.

I walked over to her, placed my hand on her shoulder, and sent a gentle calm through her body.

**A.N.: **Okay so I had to make a choice, most of you begged me to keep Amun and the Egyptians, so I did. I had to make to a consession though, so she lost her father instead. Can you figure out the meaning behind the poem? Please review.


	31. Help

**A.N.: **Thank you for getting me to one hundred and forty-two reviews, for the faves, the alerts, and just for reading.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 31 – Help

Jasper POV

I called Edward after I finally managed to force Bella into a slumber. It had taken a long time to calm her down. She had been so grief stricken and so saddened that it had been causing her physical pain. Each emotion had taken me a good fifteen minutes to numb, and then it had taken a good thirty minutes after that to force her into the slumber.

Edward arrived not even ten minutes after I called. I was sitting next to Bella, because the first time I had tried to move even slightly away from her, her emotions had started returning. "Is she alright?" Edward asked worriedly.

"She's guilt ridden, enraged at herself, and extremely saddened but she'll be fine in time, Edward. She was in some physical pain but it's nothing serious. I know you're worried about her, Edward, but I think that all we can do is be here for her. She'll need you, Edward, and she won't need you smothering her with your own worry." I said. Edward's worry and fear were almost as suffocating as Bella's emotions had been.

Edward sat down near Bella and pulled her head into his lap. He stoked her cheek gently, and she seemed to fall into an even deeper sleep. I allotted myself to weaken the intensity of my ability on her. It didn't bother her slumber.

Edward slid one hand down her back, and I raised my eyebrow in confusion at what he was doing. Then I was hit by his confusion followed almost immediately by his concern. The emotions overwhelmed all of his prior ones. He pulled her shirt up, and I saw what he must have felt on her skin.

There were long lines of bright pink skin that had just barely healed. There had to be at least four dozen lines crisscrossing each other on her back. I reached my hand forward and felt the marks. The lines were barely raised above her skin, and I wondered if they would always be there. A permanent mark that would always remind her of her role in her father's demise, just as the bite marks ravaged my skin constantly remind me of what I had once been like.

"I doubt they'll be there for very long. She's only been gone a little over a week, and even if she got them on that first day when she returned to Volterra that would still be extremely rapid healing." Edward said.

It didn't look like we were going to get to talk any longer as the door slammed open and a little whirlwind seemed pass right by, picking Bella up and placing her on the couch. The whirlwind finally came to a stand still. A short blond looked down at Bella, it was Marsha.

"I'll make sure everything is all right, Isis." She murmured. Marsha turned to us and anger raged in her eyes, "You two are absolute idiots. You didn't even have the audacity to put her on the couch so that she'd be semi comfortable. Instead, the two of you were–what–staring, gawking, even ogling at her back side. Aren't you", she pointed directly at me, "Supposed to be happily married?"

I didn't know why I suddenly felt the need to defend myself against her, but I suddenly did. "Look, I sense others' emotions which means I can feel what Edward feels for her." I said.

"Whoop-de-fucking-do, when I'm in my wolf form I feel the emotions of all the others in the pack. I just have to think and act past them." Marsha said as she put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes.

"What are you doing here, Marsha? I thought you were with Alistair and the twins." Edward said.

"I was, but Bella was injured and needed me, so I came back." Marsha said with a shrug.

"How did you know that she was hurt and needed you?" I asked.

"I just know this kind of stuff", Marsha said with a shrug.

Suddenly I knew how she knew, I remembered that day in the woods and how she had called Bella one of her own. "It's true, isn't it? She really is one of yours, just as you told us in the woods, but how are you connected to her?" I asked.

Marsha looked away from me and her emotions went blank. "I was the first, the original. True, there had been male shape-shifters for a long time before I was born, but as far as I know there had never been a female shape-shifter before me. After I left India I headed to China and stayed there for awhile. It was right after I discovered that I could change into anything that I felt a slight tug pulling me in the opposite direction. I followed it, and ended up in Zimbabwe with a pack of wolves that had human hunters, as well as a female shape-shifter in their midst.

"Whenever a new one is created I know. I feel the pull taking me that way. I also feel that pull if one of them needs me. She needed me; I always answer the call of that feeling." Marsha said.

"So there are other females out there?" I asked.

"Yes, on top of the six females that have come from this pack there are thirty others out there." Marsha said and her emotions slowly became capable for me to read again. She was sad, and upset.

"How many packs are out there?" Edward asked.

"As far as I know, there is a wolf pack here, one in Zimbabwe, and one in southern Argentina. There is a Farishan–or griffin–pack in India near where I was born, and another in South Korea. There's a were-cat pack in Kazakhstan and one in Poland. There are two Chubacobra packs in Mexico. There's a bear pack in Canada, a Sasquatch pack on Baffin Island, and a Yeti pack in the Himalayans. There's a fox pack in Australia, a falcon pack in the Sierra, a snake pack in the Amazons, and a water pack in New Zealand. All the packs are really shape-shifters, and all of them have at least one female. As far as I know that's all the packs, there was a mongrel pack in England about five hundred years ago, but to my knowledge Aro got wind of them and burnt the entire community to the ground. They had one female in their pack, and she escaped to safety, but as far as I know she's the last of that pack. There may be other packs out there, but I have not become aware of them yet." Marsha said.

"The England pack, was dogs?" I asked shocked.

"No, sorry I used the wrong term. I used mongrel under the derogatory meaning. The more official term would be rat pack, or rodent pack. When she was young the only thing she could turn into was a rat. Other members of the England pack could turn into other rodents though, like raccoons." Marsha said.

"Where is safety?" Edward asked.

"It doesn't matter." She paused and then said. "Look, you two should leave, she needs time to rest, and she doesn't need that reek nearby."

"No, Marsha, it's okay. I want Edward to stay, and Jasper's ability helps me." Bella said quietly. I hadn't even realized that she had regained consciousness.

Marsha huffed and crossed her arms. "Well, why don't you two take her to her bedroom so she can sleep in comfort, and help her to stay asleep. I just came from halfway around the world so I am going to get some sleep myself."

We did as we were told.

**A.N.: **Okay so I know that there will be exactly nine more chapters–including the epilogue–left in this story. So in that time period please go vote on chapters for the prequel if you haven't already. The more votes I have by the time I finish, the quicker it will be up. Please review even if it's negative, just please review.

**A.N. 2: **I encourage my readers to check out the profile for Trumarine, and her stories if you ever want to read something else. A link to her profile is in my favorite authors, and links to her stories Dreaming and The Tempted Lioness are in my favorite stories.


	32. Nothing's Permanent

**A.N.: **Thank you for getting me to one hundred and forty-seven reviews, for the faves, the alerts, and just for reading it in general.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 32 – Nothing's Permanent

Bella POV

Marsha had been here for a week now, and it was good to have her here. She helped me to return to my normal self, because she could keep my mind off of my guilt. I didn't care what anybody else thought, I knew it was my fault that my dad was dead.

Marsha wasn't like the Cullen's or even the others in our pack. She didn't try to tell me that it wasn't my fault. It sort of bothered me that she didn't try to tell me that it wasn't my fault, but most of me was glad that she didn't lie.

_Where are we going again, Marsha? _I asked in my thoughts. We were both currently in our wolf form, and we had both been running for several hours.

_Would you stop worrying about it, Bella, we'll be there soon. It will be good for you. _Marsha replied.

I made a little huff and followed in silence. We kept running until we hit a forest like growth and then it was a lot harder to run. It was slow going as the ground was thick with bramble. Finally we made it through, and I was shocked by the sight.

The thick bramble of the forest completely disappeared, and there was bright green grass surrounding a crystal clear lake. The trees surrounded the field from every direction creating a dark green impassible barrier.

_Come, _Marsha thought as she headed toward the water's edge. She lapped at the water, drinking, I followed suit.

Several deer came near the lake only pausing when they saw us. Marsha didn't wait for them to get their hides out of here; she lunged at one of them as she sent the emotions she was feeling through our mental connection. I allowed those emotions to take over, and lunged at another of the deer.

This inner part of me that was truly wolf took over just as it had when I first became one, and just as it did every time I killed. It was a good sensation but I didn't like it as much as I had before what happened to my father. It was this exact sensation that was why I had liked being part of the Volturi.

Chewing on the meat from the freshly dead kill truly didn't bother me either. When I had first changed into a wolf I had never been able to see myself killing and eating like that. I had never thought I could, it had been Lynn that had started me killing and eating raw animals, and then Marsha had continued that. It used to bother me, but now it was thrilling especially during the first lunge that brought the animal down.

When Marsha and I finally finished eating we pulled away from our kills, Marsha returned to her human form, and put the sundress on that she had attached to her leg with a leather string. I returned to my human form and put on my tee and shorts. I followed Marsha away from our kills until we were a good fifty feet from it.

She stopped and turned toward the sight of our kills. I looked at it, and resisted the urge to be sick. Scraps of fur, bone, and the remainder of the carcasses littered the ground. A thick stream of blood had tainted the crystal water. It wouldn't have bothered me as much if I was still in my wolf form.

"Do you know why I brought you here, Bella?" Marsha asked.

"No", I said as I shook my head. I usually didn't know when it came to Marsha until she explained it to me.

"I brought you here, for you. Animal's come and go from this little abode constantly so I was fairly certain we would get our kills. We killed two deer, and in the process we made the land look disgusting and tainted the water. I knew this would happen.

"You see, Bella, we had fun, we thought it was completely harmless. We lost ourselves in the moment, our emotions and the physical allure overwhelmed us. We wanted to kill, to hunt, so that's what we did. We got caught up in the moment, and didn't stop to think about the latter affects.

"The same affect that you are now seeing in front of you and it looks bad now, but by tomorrow you won't see a trace of the deer. The scavengers will come in and clean what we left behind. The water will purify itself, and everything will be like it once was. This is the way the world works. Things die, life continues, and time never ends.

"Your position in your father's death was inevitable. He was bound to die, that is just a fact of life. The instant he became a vampire it became inevitable that you would be a direct concurrent in your father's death. We are defenders of life, but somehow we cause almost as much death as we do life.

"You see, Bella, all positives have a negative. Our promise to our packs and our tribes are always the same. We need to protect, to serve. Yet, it seems like that is never what we really do. I know that you've felt that same dark fear and knowledge Bella, don't deny it."

I looked away unwilling to admit to what I was hearing. Unwilling to acknowledge what she was saying even though I knew she was right. Weren't those the exact words that I had once told to Jacob? Hadn't I been thinking of myself as a hunter, a killer for almost seventy years now?

Marsha continued, "I know that you know what I'm talking about. We aren't protectors, we never were. We are killers; that's what we'll always be. And if you have any doubt as to my words just look at the destruction in front of us, and the glaring truth is right there. You, Bella, are a killer. I am a killer. It's what we do, and anything we touch is bound to die eventually.

"Some of us like Lynn can find happiness in another of our kind. Though that could actually be argued, because the males aren't truly like us, are they? For unlike us they can age and continue on with the natural course of life, an ability that the females lack. They also don't have the blood rage that we have; they don't get that dark all consuming emotion we get. We are more unnatural than them.

"A few of us find our mate in a vampire. The only thing that seems to deny nature almost as much as us, except fire doesn't kill us; whereas it does with them. Most of us however live on alone. We choose solitude, taking the occasional human here and there for a one night stand or two. It is our way.

"You must see the truth of what we are, before you take a leap of faith with the Cullen's. One day you will lose them, one day they will die, and most likely you will in someway share the guilt. No matter what you do it will eventually happen. I resigned myself to the fact that Alistair will someday no longer be there, can you resign yourself to the fact that you might wake up one day and Edward might be gone forever. You didn't handle it well with Jacob, though Edward's lifeline is guaranteed to be longer than Jacob's."

I looked at the water and noticed that the pink tint from the blood had all but completely disappeared. "I don't know what I'll do when that happens. Marsha, I have no idea what will happen when I lose Edward. I'm not going to go there yet."

"Well you need to 'go there'–as you so delicately put it–because if you don't then it's going to hit you like a wrecking ball when it does happen, and it will be a lot worse than it was with Jacob, because Jacob was your second choice. Edward was always your first, and now you're going to have him, but you could lose him faster than you want to believe. And when that does happen what are you going to do? We don't get the kind hearted grave like the others, so what are you going to do?"

"I don't know, Marsha. I'll figure it out when it happens." I said.

"Let me give this to you straight, no innuendos, and no hidden lies. The reason why I haven't said that your father's death wasn't your fault is because that's a lie. You should have brought him to me the instant it happened. And don't even tell me that at the time you didn't know that I was older than I look, because I know you, Bella, and I know that you've thought I knew far too much for my age since I came back from boarding school. You've known for a long time that something was different about me.

"When you took you father to the Volturi you were playing with fire. Now true it isn't all your fault. The Volturi are at blame for the actual deed, the Cullen's are at blame for forcing you to choose, the Egyptians are to blame because of their involvement, and Edward has fault as well. It's even partly my fault as I chose to wait for you to tell me what had happened to your father on your own.

"This is the real world, and I'm a realist. So the reason why I haven't been telling you that it wasn't your fault was because that would be a lie. Yet just because you're at fault for doing some hideous act, just like we see in front of us doesn't mean that you can stop living. We must move on with our lives."

"Marsha, what is this lesson to me about?"

She walked the edge of the water and crouched, "Nothing's permanent, Bella, please remember that."

I knew even as she said it, that we were the only exception to her statement.

**A.N.: **If you haven't yet, please go on and vote on chapters for the prequel Crimson Meteor. Please review.

**A.N. 2: **I am going to try my hardest to update next Saturday on December 26th, but my younger brother is in town severely limiting the time I have for typing, so it might not be till January 2nd instead, and if that happens, I'm really, truly sorry.

**A.N. 3:** Oh, and; happy holidays, season greetings, merry Christmas, merry Xmas, happy Hanukkah, happy Kwanza, and a happy new year. Or if you're not into any of that then a happy bah humbug to you.


	33. Preparations

**A.N.: **Firstly, I apologize for not being able to update last weekend, please forgive me. And, as always, thank you for getting me to one hundred and fifty-five reviews, for the faves, the alerts, and just for reading it in general.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 33 – Preparations

Bella POV

Another two weeks had passed, and it felt like I was being pulled in a thousand directions, literally. Alice had already pre-planned most of the wedding, but Marsha wanted to scratch her idea and start over. Leah wanted me to have a Quileute wedding, as she pointed out, it was my heritage. Lynn thought I should wear a dress that showed my curves, and was red; after all it wasn't my first wedding. Nicole thought I should have a small family wedding; she included herself as family since she was Jacob's granddaughter. The twins–who had showed up with Alistair a week prior–thought I should say to heck with all of this and just get eloped. Even Rosalie and Esme had opinions.

I was about to just go for Leah's idea and say to heck with the rest. There was no way to please all of them. By pleasing one, I would have another who was semi-pleased, another that didn't care either way, another that was mad, and another that wanted to see my head on a silver platter.

Rosalie, Alice, Lynn, and Marsha all wanted me to have a bachelorette party. Leah said the idea was ridiculous and that I could only be a bachelorette once and that had been before I married Jacob. The twins' response had been to call it a widower's party instead. Nicole and Esme thought that a Bachelorette party wasn't a good idea. Personally, I had to agree it always felt like an utter waste of time, and I didn't need another bachelorette party, I had had one once in my life and that was enough for me.

It was like constant torture for me. I was sick of it too. They all wanted it their way or no way at all. Alice was complaining because she already had the flowers ordered, and we absolutely couldn't scratch her design, because the flowers would only go with her design. Marsha said that her flower choice was sucky anyways so it wouldn't matter if the idea was thrown out. They could toss the flowers as far as she was concerned as well; Marsha said she'd even pay for the flowers if that was what had Alice's panties in a bunch. I was about to toss them both in a lead room, lock the door, and lose the key.

Alice wanted me in a big poofy dress, and I had never been one for anything poofy. Marsha wanted me in sheer silk dress. Rosalie thought I should have a dress with lots of lace. Leah said that I had to be in a buckskin dress. The twins' thought dresses were stupid and said that I should be in nice shirt and some simple slacks. Nicole wanted me in a dress with a small amount of lace, slight poof, and a five foot train. Esme was inclined to see me in a dress that was ivory in color. And I didn't want to think about Lynn's idea. I was about to pull my hair from its roots.

"I refuse to have her wedding at a goddamned beach." Alice snapped.

"Well I refuse to have a wedding at place that reeks this bad." Marsha snapped back.

They were at it, _again_.

"It has to be at the beach, she's part of the Quileute pack." Leah said.

"She's joining this family." Rosalie hissed.

"Can't we just have it at a church?" Nicole asked in a growl.

"I think that this is utterly", Chrysalis began.

"Ridiculous", Esmeralda continued.

"She should", continued Chrysalis.

"Just elope", finished Esmeralda.

"No", Esme disagreed.

"Well, it can't be at this stinking house." Lynn said.

"You certainly don't have to come", Snapped Alice.

"She has to be at a place she's comfortable, and no werewolf could possibly comfortable in this smelly house." Leah snapped back.

"Comfort, who cares about comfort? Perfection is all that matters." Rosalie argued.

"The dress has to be especially perfect." Alice said

"No poof", Marsha and Lynn said as one.

"Poof is what makes a wedding dress a wedding dress", Alice snapped back.

"I agree, but there shouldn't be so much of it." Nicole said.

"The dress needs to be a traditional buckskin one; it is Bella's duty as a member of our tribe." Leah said.

"It can't be white." Lynn snapped.

"I agree, but a crimson red is insane." Esme said

"Why, you guys should love it, you are vampires after all." Lynn retorted.

Alice and Rosalie hissed.

"A dress", Chrysalis began.

"Is too", continued Esmeralda.

"Old fashioned", finished Chrysalis.

"Enough", I shouted. I'd had it with this. "We will go with Alice's plans and flowers. It will be held at the church on the Quileute res. I will wear Marsha's sheer silk wedding dress in a beige color. I will wear white ballet flats with it. I will not have a veil; I will not have a train. We shall use a ribbon to have Edward's and my wrists tied together. We will have wedding rings; we will not shove wedding cake in each others' mouths. There will be dancing after the wedding. I will be married by a priest, not a Quileute elder. I will not have a bachelorette party. Before you decide to start arguing about where I'm going on the honeymoon. I will not be going anywhere near Italy, so that puts out the whole Eastern hemisphere. Edward and I have decided upon going to Brazil. I will pack my own suitcases. If you dislike my decisions or want to argue about them; then you can consider yourself uninvited to the wedding."

I stalked out of the room without waiting on a response. It sounded like Edward needed help with the men.

Edward POV

I had found Bella taking control of the argument with the females amusing, and would have found it more amusing if I wasn't going through a similar situation. Embry, Seth, and Gary all wanted me to wear a Quileute outfit. They said that was only right, as I was marrying into the Quileute pack and tribe. Jasper and Alistair wanted me in a tux with a tailcoat. Carlisle wanted me in a traditional tux, and Emmett thought a tux was too traditional.

"He has to be presented in a fashion that proves that he honestly, not only wants, but deserves to be part of the Quileute's." Embry growled.

"He needs to look honorable." Jasper snapped.

"Quileute attire is honorable, much more honorable than a stupid tux. Our clothes have been in existence for twice as long as a stupid tux." Gary said.

"You call that clowns outfit, honorable", Alistair snapped.

"He really needs to look like he seriously wants to become part of our family." Seth said.

"Your family, she is taking our name." Jasper snapped.

"That doesn't matter. She is a pack member, which means by marrying her he is becoming part of the pack family." Gary disagreed.

"He should just be in a traditional tux." Carlisle said calmly.

"I think he should be in a Hawaiian shirt and shorts", Emmett said.

Just then Bella came into the room. She didn't look very happy. "You guys are as bad as the females in the other room. You're probably giving Edward a headache; I know they gave me one. So he will be in a traditional tux not a tailcoat. He will not be forced to dress in Quileute attire. Edward will spend his last night as a bachelor with me and that will be his bachelor party. He is fully capable of deciding his own clothes for the honeymoon, and he will do that. If you want to argue you will not be required to attend the wedding." Bella said.

I chuckled while all the others glowered. Their angry thoughts were now directed at Bella, and no longer at each other. I continued to ignore the thoughts.

"Can we go to our meadow, Edward?" Bella asked.

I smiled, nodded, and took her hand. It had been a long time since we had been there. We left the house and their arguments.

**A.N.: **If you haven't voted on chapters for the prequel yet, please do; there are only seven more chapters left, and if I have enough votes on the prequel I will have it out really soon after I finish this story. Please review.


	34. Wedding

**A.N.: **Thank you for getting me to one hundred and sixty reviews, for the faves, the alerts, and for just reading it in general.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 34 – Wedding

Bella POV

Alice spread the foundation across my face and I closed my eyes. Today was going to be a long day, I could feel it. It had been just over a month since I had made my ruling on my wedding, and_ today_ was my wedding.

Alice was my maid of honor, and Marsha, Lynn, Rosalie, and Nicole were my bridesmaids. I hadn't been able to choose just one or two of them. Chrysalis and Esmeralda were acting as the flower girls, and Karly–Seth's little imprint–was acting as the ring bearer. Edward had chosen Emmett to be the man of honor, and had Jasper, Alistair, Seth, and Embry as the best men. Carlisle was acting as Edward's father just as he should, and–believe it or not–Gary was acting as my father. I tried not to laugh at how ridiculous that seemed, but I couldn't really help it.

Alice was still upset about the fact that my hair was so short, but otherwise she was thoroughly enjoying herself. She painted on the lipstick, blush, eyeliner, and mascara. She finished my makeup, looked at my hair, and… and looked like she could pull her hair out at the roots.

Marsha smiled, stepped forward, and grabbed the brush out of Alice's hand. Marsha quickly fluffed, brushed, and sprayed my hair. "That alright?" Marsha asked looking at Alice.

Alice stepped back and inspected, "Yeah that will work. Okay, Bella, you better get up so I can get this dress on. I still can't believe that you chose this as your wedding dress, you chose Marsha over me."

I got up and put my arms above my head as I growled, "One more word, Alice, and you will be excused from your duty as my maid of honor."

"Oh don't get you panties in a bunch", Alice said cheerfully as she slid the dress on me.

Marsha, Lynn, Rosalie, and Nicole all were wearing soft lavender dresses; whereas Alice was wearing a mid-purple dress. The dresses ended just below the knees, had a modest neckline, and a widened skirt.

It was just a little over an hour to the wedding, and then the reception. Alice tilted her head to the side, "Well we have the new, but what of the rest?"

Lynn came forward with a floral corsage bracelet that had a plumage of small white flowers, and several powder blue flowers interspersed in it. "There's your blue", Lynn said. I slipped it on.

Rosalie came forward and handed me a pair of small diamond studs. "There's your old, and don't thank me for it. They were Edward's mom's; he wanted me to give them to you so you had them for the wedding." Rosalie stepped back as I put them in my ears.

Nicole didn't step forward, but I saw her hand move forward in a tossing motion, and I automatically reached up to grab the small projectile. It was a necklace with a teardrop diamond on it.

I recognized the necklace almost instantly; it had been mine at one time. Jacob had given it to me on our honeymoon. According to him it had been his mother's. When he had imprinted and I had left, I had left it behind. I assumed he had then given it to Selena, who had given it to Yolanda (Nicole's mother), and then had been given to Nicole.

"I want it back", Nicole said pulling me out of my reverie.

Today was no day to be crying over the past, today was the day for my future. I snapped the necklace on, and went over to the mirror to look in it.

"Well, I must say that I'm glad to see that you're finally over your aversion to seeing your own reflection." A deep voice said.

I spun around in shock, "Brandon." I began walking toward him, but it was unnecessary.

He came toward me and pulled me into a hug as he lifted me a foot off the ground. He spun me around before setting me back down. "I'm so glad to see that you are doing well." He said.

I stepped back and examined him, "How the heck do you look like you haven't aged a day since I left?" I asked in shock, I was sure that he had stopped morphing. Brandon had lived on the Makah res. until he had changed into a werewolf. Brandon and Jacob had had the same great grandfather.

"Well after I left Forks, I truly had intended to just stop morphing and die normally, but then I met Caroline. Marsha already knows who Caroline is, and you'll meet her at the reception. She's a were-cat. I'm happy for you Bells, Jacob would be to, if he was still around that is." Brandon said, smiled, and continued, "Well, I happened to hear about your wedding and decided to come and watch. I'll talk to you later, alright?" He walked back out before I had a chance to respond.

"Did you set this up?" I asked, looking at Marsha.

"Actually, no, I didn't even know that Caroline had found a person to call her partner. Caroline and I don't talk much; we get in too many fights. Unless I get a distress signal from her, I try to steer clear of her. She has always refused my help, so we're not exactly best buds." Marsha said.

Alice came back and looked me over again. "Okay, the earrings are old, the dress is new, the necklace is borrowed, and the corsage is blue. Here's your bouquet", Alice said as she handed me an all white set of flowers that was accented with blood-red flowers. "And you're ready to go."

Gary knocked on the door and stepped in, "It's time everyone." Gary said; he had his grandfather's voice and patience.

Alice made a hiss and we all got in line almost instantaneously. Gary put his hand through my elbow. The music started and the procession started. Leah was wearing a long gold dress, and went in ahead of all of us. She was acting as the lead elder, alpha of my pack, and chief of this tribe. The procession continued and all too soon the fanfare announced it was my turn.

As I walked in I took a quick account of all the guests. On the left side–from back to front–were Yolanda and Steve (Nicole's parents), Madrid and Drew (Gary's parents), Lila and Carl (the twins' parents), Quil and Claire, Misty (Karly's mother, also Jared's granddaughter), Brandon and a blond that I presumed to be Caroline, and in the front row sat the twin's and Karly. At the very front on the left stood Alice, Marsha, Lynn, Rosalie, and Nicole with Leah casually standing behind the partition. On the right side–from back to front–were several vampires that I hadn't met including the coven that went by the Denali's, and Esme at the forefront. Standing against wall behind them was Alec. Alec… What the fuck was he doing here? In the very front on the right were Emmett, Jasper, Alistair, Seth, and Embry; Carlisle stood near them, and in the very front was Richard Newton (which by some really strange turn of events was the great-grandson of Angela and Ben, and the great-grandson of Mike and Jessica–I didn't know how that had happened, nor did I want to). Richard Newton was a pastor from Forks, and was to marry us.

In front of Richard stood Edward in all of his perfection. He was wearing a classic tuxedo that made him even more devastatingly beautiful than he already looked. When I finally made it to him he put his hand out, Gary placed my hand in his, and then took the seat next to Karly.

"Dearly Beloved, we are gathered together here to join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony, which is commended to be honorable among all men; and therefore–is not by any–to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly–but reverently, discreetly, advisedly and solemnly. Into this holy estate, these two persons present now come to be joined. If any person can show just cause why they may not be joined together–let them speak now or forever hold their peace." Richard said.

I didn't have to look around to know that most of the pack–and their families–were shuffling and glancing around uneasily, as they had more than enough reason to negate this union. None of them commented on it though, and Richard continued.

"Okay then, we may begin. We are here today to witness the joining in marriage of Edward Anthony Cullen and Bella Isis Black. This occasion marks the celebration of love and commitment with which this man and this woman begin their life together. By gathering together all the wishes of happiness and our fondest hopes for Edward and Bella from all present here, we assure them that our hearts are in tune with theirs. These moments are so meaningful to all of us, for what greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they are joined together–to strengthen each other in all labor–to minister to each other in all sorrow–to share with each other in all relationship stands for love, loyalty, honesty and trust, but most of all for friendship. Before they knew love, they were friends, and it was from this seed of friendship that is their destiny. Do not think that you can direct the course of love–for love, if it finds you worthy, shall direct you. And now exchange of vows before Edward and Bella."

Richard turned to me. "Do you Bella Isis Black take Edward Anthony Cullen to be your husband in the holy estate of matrimony? Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer, for better, for worse, in sadness and in joy, to cherish and continually bestow upon him your heart's deepest devotion, forsaking all others, keep yourself only unto him till death do you part."

"I do", I said solemnly.

Richard then turned toward Edward, "Do you Edward Anthony Cullen take Bella Isis Black to be your wife in the holy estate of matrimony? Will you love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer, for better, for worse, in sadness and in joy, to cherish and continually bestow upon her your heart's deepest devotion, forsaking all others, keep yourself only unto her till death do you part?"

"I do", Edward said.

"May we have the rings?"

Karly stood up in all her five year old klutz and held the ring bearer's pillow out as she came forward. Richard bent down and gently took them, and she scuttled back to her seat. Richard gave Edward my ring, and Edward proceeded to slide it on my finger. Then Richard gave me Edward's ring, and I slid it on Edward's finger.

"May these rings be blessed as the symbol of this affectionate unity. These two lives are now joined in one unbroken circle. Wherever they go–may they always return to one another. May these two find in each other the love for which all men and women yearn. May they grow in understanding and in compassion. May the home which they establish together be such a place that many will find there a friend. May these rings symbolize the touch of the spirit of love in their hearts.

"May you always share with each other the gifts of love–be one in heart and in mind–may you always create a home together that puts in your hearts–love–generosity and as much as Edward and Bella have consented together in marriage before this company of friends and family and have pledged their faith–and declared their unity by giving and receiving a ring–are now joined. You have pronounced yourselves husband and wife but remember to always be each other's best friend. And so, by the power vested in me by the State of Washington, I now pronounce you husband and wife–and may your days be good and long upon the earth."

"You may now kiss the bride," Richard finished.

Edward kissed me passionately, but only briefly as Leah made a loud huff, forcing us apart. "I am Leah Clearwater and the acting chief of the Quileute tribe as well as one of the five acting elders, and I will speak the elders' view now. In traditions far older than the one we have just seen we are now to enact a tribal ritual. Bella Isis Black was born unto our tribe, and is a member of our tribe. In her decision to marry outside of the tribe we have made prestigious motions to assure that Edward Anthony Cullen is well aware of our traditions. We have assured that he is–in fact–the man he claims to be, and is a man good enough to become a member of this tribe. As of this day forward, he and his family shall be members of this tribe by ways of a matrimonial union, and with approval of the tribe elders."

Leah paused for a moment to let her words sink in. She didn't look much like the nineteen years old girl that she would forever be. Physically she did, but there was an air about her that made her seem much older, much more like her actual age.

She continued, "In the old days, a honeymoon–as it is now called–would have been celebrated in the house that the man had built in the year prior, as is proper. Times have changed though, and life is not what it once was. Nowadays we go away for our honeymoon and spend several weeks away while we enjoy ourselves liberally. This is not the way of old, in the olden days we would celebrate after such a joyous union while the man and woman were joined at the wrist by a really strong rope; the rope would not be removed till the following morning after the man and woman had went home and consummated their affection. Today we remind ourselves of the olden days as I bind them together by their wrists using this ribbon", in her hands was a dark blue ribbon, "So that it can be seen publicly during the celebration that they belong to each other from this day forth. They will be allowed to remove the ribbon when they leave for the honeymoon."

Leah quickly and securely bound our wrists together. "May the celebrations begin."

Edward POV

We had been celebrating for several hours now, and were currently dancing. It had been shocking and overwhelming to meet and greet Bella's family. I assumed that Bella had felt the same way about the vampires that were here. We had done a few traditional things, including a bouquet throw–which Nicole had nabbed–and a garter toss–which Embry had got.

It was about time for us to leave now; this was our last song of the night. It was a new version of Collide, though I had argued that we should play the original. Bella had calmly explained that it just wasn't possible. She had told me that the only ones at the wedding who should possibly know the original version were Quil and Claire. I reluctantly agreed.

As the song came to an end Bella took my hand and pulled me toward the back of the church. "We'll change our clothes, come back, say our final goodbye, and leave for our honeymoon." Bella said as she pulled me through a door. Inside were two outfits hanging on a bar. Bella untied the ribbon, and we quickly changed into our respective attire.

She retied the ribbon on us and we returned to the dancing. According to Bella the Quileute's would celebrate through the night, and well into the next day. She said the alcohol would show up sometime around midnight.

There were dozens of goodbyes, and most were thinking decent thoughts. It wasn't until after we were out in the open that the goodbye got a little more personal. The wolf called Brandon was waiting outside, his wife, Caroline, was still inside.

"Bella", Brandon said, _I hope she's sure about this. _His thought was concerned.

"Brandon, it was good to see you again." Bella replied.

"You two look good together", Brandon said and then spoke directly to Bella, "He's better for you than Jacob was, I hope you know. I know you loved Jacob, but he just wasn't meant for you. This union–while troubling to the tribe–is more right. I'm glad that you are finally getting to be happy." _I wish I could tell her how happy Jacob would have been, while he certainly wouldn't have been happy about her choice, he would have been happy for her, happy that she was finally happy._

Brandon walked back inside before Bella could comment. We headed to Bella's Pagani with the suitcases were already in the trunk. As previously agreed upon, I was allowed to drive, and I stomped on the gas as we headed to our honeymoon.

**A.N.: **Please vote for chapters on the prequel, Crimson Meteor, if you haven't already. The place to vote is at the top of my profile. Please review.

**A.N. 2: **If you ever tire of my stories or just want try reading something else you ought to read Who Knew by Twilight-HP- Lover or Eighty Years Later by Twilight-HP-Lover.


	35. Honeymoon

**A.N.: **Thank you for getting me to one hundred and sixty-three reviews, for the faves, the alerts, and just for reading in general.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 35 – Honeymoon

Bella POV

We had just arrived at the small house that I owned near the Amazon River. I had bought it almost twenty years ago. I had only lived in it for a few short months before I had moved on. It was only a small one bedroom style cabin, and was one of the smallest houses that I owned.

The house was surrounded by forest, and the river was barely audible off in the distance. The trees rose way up and covered all signs of sun with their thick billowing leaves. The front of the small house was covered in flowers, some venomous, a few lethal, others thorny, and all were beautiful. It had been almost fifteen years since my last visit, but I'd had a house keeper keep it in good order.

We finally got inside, "Why'd you choose this place if you have two other house's here in Brazil?" Edward asked.

"This house has a much more homey feel to it than the other two. One of my other two has a total of seven people living in it, and taking care of it. I don't think we'd want to be there. The other house was a birthday present from _Felix _forty years ago. I've stepped foot in it all of one time." I said.

"Wait, Felix bought you a house, why?"

"He _liked _me, I told you that once–or twice–already. He didn't like me so much as he liked the idea that he might be able to get his teeth into my throat. It doesn't really matter; he never got anything out of me. He thought that just by buying stuff it would convince me to like him; needless to say it didn't work."

"How big is that house?"

"Fairly large, the whole of the Volturi know my taste, and by the time I had left Forks behind I had already acquired my more extravagant taste buds. I mean it's not like Felix was the only one who got me presents. I have an entire fleet of foreign sports cars thanks to Aro, and god only knows how much jewelry I've gotten from Alec and Jane."

"Alec and Jane, but I thought all of them treated you like a dog."

"Not all of them did. Alec and Jane were fairly good friends, and some of the younger ones, specifically Jerome and Rene liked me. Aro of course thought of me as a beloved pet, and Marcus treated me fairly. Athenodora and Sulpicia both were afraid of me, and as I mentioned Felix _liked_ me. The rest did treat me like a dog, Caius was the worst. He absolutely despised me, and my guts."

"If you like big houses, why did you buy this?"

"I like the tranquility, the peace in this area. There's something soothing to me about being surrounded by jungle with not another soul for miles. It was less about the house and more about the area in general."

Edward cocked his head, "What about…"

I cut him off. "Edward, there will be plenty of time for the game of twenty questions later, but this is our _honeymoon_. I know that there is a lot of stuff you probably want to know about, but I don't want to talk about that stuff."

Edward smiled slowly, "And what would you like to do?"

I stepped in closer to him, and snaked my hand up his arm. "I want to do all sorts of things to you", I whispered, that was all it took.

Then my back was against the wall, he shoved me back faster than I had been prepared for. His lips were crushing mine. He pulled me slightly off the ground so that he wouldn't have to bend to kiss me, and I wrapped my legs around his waist as my hands wound their way into his hair.

There was desperation in his lips as he kissed me, it was hot and urgent. He pulled slightly back and whispered, "I love you", and then his lips were against mine. As his tongue slipped in my mouth I moaned loudly. He wrapped his one hand in my hair, and the other he pressed against the small of my back forcing me even closer to him. It felt amazing, better than amazing. I closed my eyes and just let myself feel.

His hands traveled down my body to the hem of my shirt and he quickly pulled it up. I raised my arms; he slipped the shirt over my head, and tossed it to the floor. He kissed me on the lips–one chaste kiss–and then kissed down to my throat and he nibbled very gently above my collarbone. His hand undid the hooks on my strapless bra and it fell to the ground.

He kissed downward, I arched my back–as best I could in the limited space–allowing him better access to my breasts. He licked my left breast in slow swirling motions, and I moaned as the sensation sent heat to my center.

I forced my hands out of his hair and moved them to the front of his shirt. I unbuttoned it slowly allowing my hands to trace the exposed skin before continuing to the next button. He let out a sharp growl as I pinched his nipples. It wasn't a growl of anger, it was one of excitement. I bent my head toward his and breathed in his hair before I grazed my teeth along his right ear. He let a hiss out.

As hot as this was, it wasn't what I really wanted though. I slid my legs back down, and stepped back. Edward looked at me in utter shock and sadness. "The bedroom", I said softly and then he understood. He picked me back up and then we were in the bedroom in less time than I could breath.

He placed me gently on the bed and moved so that he was on top of me. He pulled off my pants at the same time that I reached for his. He helped me get his the rest of the way off. He worked my panties off slowly and spent plenty of time admiring.

There had been a time in my life when I would have been dying of embarrassment from the way he was looking at me, and I was flushed, but it wasn't from him admiring me. It was from the being so aroused, and the sheer lust that was tangible in the air between us.

I worked his shorts down until he pulled them the rest of the way off. I admired the size of him for a moment, and then pulled him up toward me. He kissed me for a minute still hovering above me. He wasn't just teasing me; he was teasing himself as well. I let out a very deliberate and sensual moan, and his teasing became too much for him.

He plunged deep into me and my moan turned wild, no longer deliberate. He moved out and shoved back in with extreme speed. The world around me started spinning after several more of his thrusts, and I began screaming his name. His own never ending growl only brought me closer to the release I so wanted.

I bit on his nipple to hold back a scream and his growl became a roar. It undid me and the whole world spun away from me. Everything disappeared and everything went into extreme contrast. I felt Edward still above me as he to felt his climax.

I don't know how long the heavenly sensation lasted, but finally he collapsed on top of me before he rolled off of me, and pulled me over so my head was on his shoulder. We had just had some intense sex and it was only the first day of what would be the best week of our life.

**A.N.: **Only five more chapters; please go and vote for prequel chapters if you haven't yet. Please review.


	36. Stunned

**A.N.: **Thank you for getting me to one hundred and sixty-five reviews, for the faves, the alerts, and just for reading it in general.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 36 – Stunned

Bella POV

Our honeymoon had finally come to an end, and now we were back in Forks. I was packing the items in my house, as I wasn't going to be living here any longer. In matter-of-fact I soon wouldn't be living in Forks at all. I had convinced my family, the Cullen's; that we should move. I didn't want anymore people up on the res. changing into wolves. By the time Edward and I got back Marsha had–go figure–already left, along with Alistair and the twins.

I'd always had a sixth sense about when potential danger was near, so when the hairs on the back of my neck stand I take it seriously. Today was one of those days; I felt it before there was even a knock on the door. Edward was currently upstairs packing the up the stuff in my bedroom while I was packing up the stuff downstairs. I went to the door, and looked out the peep hole.

It was Alec, and there was another vampire with him. This vampire was a boy; he had a pale olive skin tone and light blond hair. His eyes were bright red. Alec wasn't groomed out in a suit today, nor was he wearing the Volturi cloak. He was wearing jeans and a tee–I made mental note to burst into hysteria, if I let him stay–Alec never wore that kind of clothes.

Edward came to my side just as I opened the door. "Alec", I said quietly so as to keep my fury sustained, "What are you doing here? I'd think you'd rather hide under a rock than be anywhere near me, after all I did promise that I would destroy any member of the Volturi that I ran into." At least I wasn't shaking, yet.

"You'd better take a good look in the mirror before you even try to make good on that threat. I don't care if Aro stripped you of your cloak, and denounced you from your duties; you will always be a member of the Volturi, and that will never change. Someday you'll realize that." Alec said.

"I was never a Volturi member, I was a Volturi dog, and the instant my tether was destroyed I no longer was." I said.

"I'm not here to argue with you, if I was, I would have started it. I'm here to ask a favor, I guess." Alec said.

"And why would I do a favor for you?" I asked.

"Because you owe me", Alec said.

A week in Mexico crossed my mind. "I suppose I do, so what is your request."

Alec looked to the boy, "This boy goes by Sabir; he was changed a few weeks ago. I was supposed to kill him with the rest of the coven, but I just couldn't force myself to."

I raised an eyebrow, "I didn't know that you ever went against Aro."

Alec gave me a dirty look, "Look, everyone has a soft spot. If Aro found out about this boy he'd kill him instantly, and I don't want the boy killed."

"Why don't you want him killed?" I asked.

"He reminds me of me, alright? You know I was only fourteen when I became a permanent member of the immortal realm. Well he only just had his twelfth birthday a little over a month ago, and then he was changed. He deserves a chance at a normal life, not a death sentence." Alec said.

"I think you're asking the wrong person. I'm a vampire killer, Alec, I always have been. That was why I brought my father to the Volturi because I am not capable of protecting a vampire. It is in my very nature to want to kill vampires, Alec, you know that." I said slowly.

"I disagree, because if that was the case you wouldn't be married to one now. Well, unless you're a backstabbing ho, and I know you aren't." Alec said.

"Alec, there's a large difference. I love Edward, I have since before I became like this; however I don't love Sabir, I don't even know him." I said.

"I'm not asking you to coddle with him, Bella, I'm asking you to take him somewhere that I can't guess so that he will be safe. You know a lot of vampires; surely you know a coven or a set of nomadic vampires that would take him." Alec said.

Alec was right, of course. "Does he have an ability?" I asked.

"Not that he's aware of, and not that I'm aware of." Alec said.

"Alec, I need something to work with, if I don't have something to work with I can't possibly help you. Most of the vampires I know would only take him if he proved valuable. If he doesn't have an ability, what value does he have?" I said.

"He can learn how to fight", Alec said.

"Unless he already knows how to fight, that's worthless to them; they don't have time to train vampires." I said.

"What about the Cullen's, then? I remember Carlisle quite well, and I happen to know that he would take almost anyone in, even if it was only temporary." Alec said.

I sighed and turned to Sabir, "Would you be willing to hunt animals instead of humans?"

Alec made a retching sound.

I turned back to Alec and growled, "I wasn't talking to you; I already know your preference." I looked back toward Sabir, "Would you?"

Sabir looked nervous, "I could try, I guess." He said quietly. His voice was accented, Arabic.

"I don't know, it isn't really my place to say if he can or can't…" I trailed off.

Edward spoke for the first time. "Of course, we can teach him. We'll make room for him where we're moving to, and we'll help him to learn how to be on his own, if nothing else."

"Alec, if that's all you had to ask of me, you can go now, I'll make sure he's safe. Like you said, I owe you." I said.

"Jane wanted me to give you these, and the last item is from Felix. Call them a wedding present." Alec said.

I opened the fist box, and inside was a locket necklace. I opened the locket and found two images. On the right was an image of Charlie in his gray cape with the hood down, and on the left was an image of me in my white cape with the hood down. I closed the locket and shut the lid. I opened the next box and found a full set of diamond jewelry. It had studded earrings, a full length necklace, a bangle, a ring, an anklet, a pin, and a hair barrette.

"That one was supposed to be from both Jane and me for your birthday, but I doubt I'll be seeing you again anytime soon." Alec said.

The third–and last–box had a ruby and sapphire tennis bracelet in it. I knew instantly who it was from, even without the previous warning of the last item being from Felix, I could tell that he was the one that had sent this. I shut the lid and tossed it behind me.

"Would you give something to Felix for me?" I asked quietly.

I could tell that Alec had an idea of what was coming. "Sure, what?" He said wearily.

I socked Alec in the face faster than he had time to blink, "That."

"You could have just told me to punch him." Alec said.

"That wouldn't have done much good for my pent-up anger, would it?" I said.

Alec rolled his eyes, "Look, just take care of the kid, would you? And I'm leaving before you sock me again." He walked several feet away before he dropped a large box on the ground, and then he ran for the forest.

I walked over to the box, black leather with gold stitched on top of it. I knew what was inside. I picked it up, and came back in. Sabir was sitting on the couch with Edward standing beside him. I walked to the item that Felix had given me and picked it up, and proceeded to drop them in an empty cardboard box. I got a marker, and wrote on the lid. It read;

_**Objects to torch**_

**A.N.: **There are only four more chapters left, so if you haven't gone on my profile and voted for chapters on the prequel yet, please do so soon. As always, please review.


	37. Choice

**A.N.: **Thank you for getting me to one hundred and sixty-eight reviews, for the faves, for the alerts, and just for reading in general.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 37 – Choice

Bella POV

We had returned to the Cullen's house with the child. I had hoped that Carlisle would throw him to curb (though I knew better), I was disappointed. Sabir had been here for about a day, and he did pretty much anything that they asked of him. He didn't talk much, so he seemed to have the fabrics of an obedient servant.

The doorbell rang and since none of the family had been aware of someone before the bell I assumed that it had to be Nicole, since she was the only one Edward couldn't hear. I opened the door, my assumption was correct. "Nicole, what are you doing here?" I asked as I stepped out of the way so she could enter.

Nicole came in, "You shouldn't have to ask, Bella, you know why. I can't believe what you're planning on doing. This territory is as much yours as it is the rest of ours."

I groaned, "Why aren't there any secrets between the wolves?" It was a rhetorical question.

She answered it anyway, "We share minds when we're in our wolf forms."

I groaned again, "Besides, Nicole, it's for the best. The creation of younger wolves has to stop. You're nine, and the twins are seven, it has to stop." She opened her mouth to argue but I shook my head, "No, Nicole, you will not argue with me about this. This is for the best, and as young as you are, you are in no condition to argue."

Nicole's eyes narrowed, "I am extremely mature for my age."

"I realize that, Nicole, but you are nine years old, and I am a hundred and nine years old. That is an extreme amount of difference. You are but a child, and this kind of argument will get you nothing more than a spanking." I said.

"Jacob would have heard me out." Nicole said petulantly.

"And Jacob was your grandfather. I am your Alpha, not your blood relative, and as your alpha I could command you to shut it, but I'm not. I may feel in someway inclined to protect you due to how close I was to Jacob before he met Selena, but that does not mean that you have any authority over my choices. Trust me, when I say that this will be the best option." I said.

Nicole crossed her arms, and I could see her planning on making another petulant comment, but suddenly her mouth fell open. She wasn't looking at me anymore, but at someone behind me instead. I turned to see who she was staring at as she clamped her mouth back shut. It was Sabir.

"_Who _is that?" Nicole managed to get out a moment later.

"His name is Sabir." I said quietly.

"What's he doing here? He looks like a human hunter."

"He's a newborn; he's learning how to be a vegetarian vampire. He'll be coming with us when we leave." I said quietly.

Nicole stepped past me and toward Sabir, "So you want to learn to be like them?" Nicole asked softly.

His eyes flashed to me before he answered. "It was better than my other option."

Nicole cocked her head to the side. "How old are you, Sabir?" Nicole's voice had shocked me into numbness. Since the time I had met her she had seemed to have fox-like attributes. She had a very mischievous nature to her–in spite of her obvious maturity–that showed through in her voice. Today she sounded gentle, concerned, caring.

"Twelve", he responded.

"And how long have you been a vampire?" Nicole continued.

"A few weeks", He replied.

What Nicole did next… shocked wasn't a strong enough word. She took the last few steps toward him, pulled his face down to hers, and kissed him; it wasn't an innocent kiss. The shock wore off fairly fast though, and was quickly replaced with red.

"Nicole", my reprimand was sharp.

Jasper POV

Three subsequent emotions hit me like a wrecking ball. The first of which was love and seemed to be coming from Nicole, then I felt the lust that was coming from Sabir. And then the flat-out rage that was from Bella, just as Bella snapped, "Nicole."

I came down the stairs just as Nicole broke away from Sabir and turned to look at Bella; Nicole's face was flushed. Had they just been kissing?

"What in hell do you think your doing?" Bella asked in a barely controlled voice.

"I was kissing him", Nicole snapped back.

"And what were you doing that for exactly?" Bella asked.

"I like him; I know that you know what love at first sight is." Nicole said quietly as her own anger built, but Nicole's anger was like a single drop of rain in comparison to Bella's hurricane.

"Yes, I do, but you are WAY too young to be kissing like that, and are FAR too young to have the slightest understanding of the kind of love you're making reference to." Bella said and her voice had dropped.

"I will _always _be too young." Nicole snapped, "And since you're taking strays I think I'll be coming with you guys."

I sensed it coming but I didn't have time to move and stop Bella before Nicole crashed into the wall with Bella's hands holding her there by her shoulders. I couldn't sense Nicole's emotions anymore, and I couldn't sense Sabir's, I couldn't even sense my own, all I could sense was Bella's. And it was red; there wasn't any other description for it.

"And what makes you think that I will let you come. You are nine years old, your parents love you, and you are nowhere near old enough to be on your own." Bella said and her voice had turned to ice.

I couldn't sense Nicole's fear, but I could see it and I could hear it. "I will always be nine years old, and my parents will be better off without me. _And_ I'm a shape-shifter that happens to have an IQ of 186, so I am _more_ than capable of being on my own."

"Vampires are dangerous, and Jacob would kill me if he was still alive and I let you run off with one of them." Bella said.

"Oh really, if they're so dangerous than why did you marry one. Marsha also loves one, so I really don't see what's so bad about them. Besides, we can't die." Nicole said.

"Yeah, I like danger, and if Jacob was still alive I would never hear the end of it." Bella growled.

"Well I like danger too, and I can handle it." Nicole said.

Bella stepped back from her, "Very well, prove it."

"What?" Nicole asked.

"You heard me, prove it." Bella said.

"How?" Nicole queried.

"Tell me, what happens if you really truly do get to a point where you can't live without him, and he dies?" Bella asked and Nicole opened her mouth to respond but Bella continued. "Think _very _carefully about your response, because he can die and you can't, and your response will make a world of difference to my next words."

Nicole looked to Sabir and as Bella's anger died out I could tell that this wasn't just some crush. It was almost as if she had–in fact–imprinted, though I knew she hadn't as the females couldn't imprint. Nicole drew in a slow breath as she turned toward Bella again. "Move on, get over it. Our emotions can change, and surely I could find a way to get past it, though I know it would be hard. I'd have to continue living."

"Good answer", Bella said, "I'll let you come IF you can convince your parents to allow you to leave, if they say no, then you stay, and you're going to have to convince them yourself."

**A.N.: **Please go on my profile and vote for chapters for the prequel if you haven't already as there are only three more chapters left in this story. As always, please review.


	38. Treaty

**A.N.: **Thank you for getting me to one hundred and seventy reviews, for the faves, the alerts, and for just reading it in general.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 38 – Treaty

Bella POV

I ran to La Push in my wolf form. If I had my way this would be conceivably the last time that I ever came here. Not that I wanted that to happen, but it needed to be done. Somehow I doubted that Leah was going to willingly agree to this.

I changed back to my human form the instance that I got close to Leah's house. I changed back to my human form and pulled on my shorts and tee. Then I continued toward the door, Leah opened it before I got there, and she crossed her arms and glared at me as I reached her.

"I don't like this, Bella." Leah said slowly.

"Would you rather have a bunch more female werewolves around, because _that_ is the other option." I said quietly.

Leah look disgusted, none of us wanted to see anymore of us. "Of course I don't want to see a bunch of little ones running around, but there has to be a better option than this."

"Leah, there isn't, now let's get this over with." I said calmly. I understood where Leah was coming from, but this was the only real option there was for the Cullen's, Sabir, myself, and now Nicole too, as she had gotten her parents permission and blessing. I realized the main reason too; they trusted that she would be safe with me.

"Very well, let's get this over with." Leah said quietly and I walked in after her.

We headed to the dining room where the other four elders were. Quil sat astutely at the table with Embry at his right and Seth at his left. It was shocking to see the three of them like that as they were all still good friends but the age difference was shocking. At one time they had all looked similar in age, but now with Seth and Embry still looking like youthful males, whereas Quil looked well into his seventies, the difference was staggering. Lynn stood against the wall.

I pulled the paper out of my shorts pocket and handed it to Leah in silence, she knew that this had to be done whether she willingly accepted it or not. She unfolded it and read it in silence before passing it to Quil. Embry and Seth read the note from his sides, and Lynn stepped up to read it as well.

Quill was the first to speak in his gravelly old voice, "Bella, we can't agree to this, if this is the only terms that will keep your vampires away from here, then it would be better if they were here, and we'll deal with the consequences later."

I forced myself to take a deep breath in, and told myself to remain calm. Quil couldn't possibly even begin to understand what being a female werewolf was like, so he didn't truly realize what he was saying, "Quil, you must see that we can't keep having females change like we have. Quil, we can't age, we can't have children, we can't even die. This has to be done, it can't keep happening." I said.

"Bella, I can't ban you from returning, and I certainly can't do it to Nicole. Besides, it isn't right for us to negate a treaty when they've done nothing wrong." Quil said.

My hands hit the table, "Nothing wrong, nothing. Take a look around, Quil. Leah, Lynn, myself, even you guys, none of us would have turned into wolves if they hadn't come back ninety years ago." I said.

"You're telling me you wouldn't miss Edward." Quil said.

"I wouldn't know what I was missing. I would have moved here with my father and then moved to Jacksonville with my mother after she had moved there, and I never would have been the wiser. This isn't rocket science. I never would have known Edward to begin with, so I wouldn't know to miss him." I said.

"Yeah, well I don't know what I'd do without Claire, she's my life." Quil said.

"Of course she is, because you imprinted on her, because you became a wolf. You might never have even met her if you hadn't become a wolf. And I'm sure that you would have found someone you deeply loved without some magical, mystical nonsense. Leah and Sam probably would have married and had kids. Embry probably would have continued on to be a practitioner like he wanted to. Seth probably would have continued on into science like he always wanted. I would have probably married a normal human and continued on to have kids, get a career, and such. And well Lynn probably would have ended up traveling the world"–with the circus.

"What if James had arrived here and found you, what then? The lack of a treaty wouldn't have stopped him from passing through." Leah said.

I looked at Leah, and I knew that right now my eyes were cold and remote. I knew my words were going to be harsh but I couldn't help myself, "Then I would be dead, and that would be that. Now, there is no reason for us to keep going over this, this new treaty is the best, and the most permanent way to fix this."

"This isn't a treaty, this is a banishing is what it is." Leah said.

"Then that's what it will be, I don't care this has to happen." I growled in anger.

"I won't agree to this if it banishes you and Nicole as well." Leah said.

"I won't either", Lynn said.

I let out a growl of frustration before I closed my eyes and shook my head. I let out a slow breath. "Well how about with only the prior permission of the Alpha can one of us return." I said.

All five of them looked at each other for a long moment before they nodded at each other and Leah looked at me again. "Very well", Leah said with a slight nod. "By the powers invested in me as a tribal elder, tribal chief, and pack alpha I find from here on fourth that you and your coven shall be forbidden to be on our land–which includes Forks, La Push, and the surrounding area–except when there is a founded reason for return and prior permission from the pack alpha.

"From here on forth all prior treaties with your coven and any other coven shall be forever forgotten and stripped from the record. And From here on forth all trespasses within our land–without prior permission–shall be forever unforgiven and we shall make sure there is punishment for such trespasses. Do you agree with this?"

I continued to look her in the eyes, knowing neither of us truly wanted this to occur, but we both realized that it was necessary. "I, Bella Cullen, speaker for my coven do agree to the terms of this treaty." I said solemnly. This treaty would not be changed or rewritten ever; none of us could afford it.

"I, Leah Clearwater, as the true pack alpha, decree that from this day forth the treaty will forever be in effect." Leah said.

Leah and I looked at each other for several long moments before I finally nodded, and headed toward the door. There would be no goodbyes right now, as neither of us could find the words to truly say goodbye, because we both realized that I wouldn't be coming back. Nicole might decide to take advantage of the loophole, but all of us knew that I wouldn't.

Once I was out the door I took off at a dead run and turned into a wolf once I hit the tree's edge. My clothes shredded but I didn't care. I couldn't stick around and look at La Push, because I knew that if I did I would find a reason to change my mind about the treaty, and I knew I had to get out of there now. But I didn't return to the Cullen's yet, I just couldn't yet.

I ran deep into the forest and kept running till I was almost lost. Then I let out an ear piercing howl. It was the only reaction I had to my agony, but this had to be done, I knew it had. It had been past time to do it, and I had truly had no choice in the matter. I knew it was too late to change it, and that it was for the best, but that didn't help my misery with the fact that this would be the last time that I probably ever saw my home.

I let out another ear piercing howl and then lay down on the forest floor.

**A.N.: **Please go on my profile and vote for chapters to the prequel, Crimson Meteor, if you haven't already as there is only one chapter and the epilogue left. As always, please review.


	39. Leaving

**A.N.: **Thank you for the reviews, the faves, the alerts, and just reading in general.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Ch 39 – Leaving

Bella POV

I was now back home, and we were packing up our vehicles and getting ready to leave. My Pagani was as packed as it could get considering Nicole was riding with me, and my vehicle was only a two-seater to begin with. The only reason that Nicole was going in my car was so I could force some distance between her and Sabir. I didn't trust her judgment when it came to the boy, and she had stopped listening to me after she had seen him. I felt like I was being a senile old woman about this, but she was nine–as she always would, god I wish she hadn't pointed that out. I understood that both of them were mentally older than they should be, but I didn't like it.

Nicole didn't, couldn't understand what it was like to lose the love of her life. She couldn't begin to fathom that kind of all consuming pain. She'd never have to, if I could help it. She didn't deserve to have that kind of pain.

She didn't need to know what it felt like, so I was doing everything in my power to keep her from feeling that kind of pain, even if it meant that she ended up hating me because of it. Marsha, as usual, had showed up again. She had sensed the separation of the pack, the inevitable split that was sending us in two different directions, permanently. And she had showed up a few hours ago trying to figure out a different solution, but for once not even she could think of a better idea.

The treaty was the best and most permanent way to guarantee that we were never in this land again. I had to include myself in the we, as I had married Edward and I wasn't going anywhere without him. Marsha had been more agreeable with me than the Quileute elders, who had all believed that the treaty was wrong. Marsha saw what I saw; that there couldn't continue to be more female wolves, the results were disastrous.

Marsha was helping with the last of our packing. A good portion of the stuff wasn't going with us, between all the money I had and all the money that the Cullen's had, pretty much everything could be replaced. Most of the clothes that we had were sent to good will. We were leaving the furniture behind, a good portion of the books, and several paintings.

Pretty much the only things that we were taking with us were the items that we couldn't leave behind. For Carlisle, that was a few of his older, more valued books, and the paintings of his life story. For Esme it was her blueprints and several precious items that her kids and Carlisle had given her over the years. For Emmett it was a set of baseballs and baseball bats. For Rosalie it was some special lingerie and quite a bit of jewelry. For Alice it was the small packet that contained the small amount of info that she had been able to find on her human past. For Jasper it was a pendent that I didn't even know he had had; a pendent of his human life from when he had served in the confederate army. For Edward it was my CD that he pulled out from under a floorboard in my house, and several other mementos that he had gotten from when we had first been together–including my letter from when James had tried to kill me and the pop bottle lid he had stolen at the first lunch we'd had together. For me it was the two rings that Jacob had given me, and a few other special pieces of jewelry.

Nicole was probably taking the most of all of us, as she was so young and she had yet to truly gain real objects that she just couldn't live without. So she brought some of her toys, a large amount of her clothes, quite a few books, a fairly large segment of play jewelry, and a few other things. Sabir had nothing except for the clothes that Alice had already bought for him so he wasn't going to be bringing much of anything.

Most of my jewelry, my cloak, and quite a few pieces of clothes sat in a metal trash can, along with wood and gasoline. In the jewelry was Felix's latest gift, as well as all the other jewelry that I had gotten from the Volturi. I was waiting till we left to set the can ablaze.

Alice came up to me, "It's almost time." Alice said quietly.

"I know, I can tell. I'm going to miss Forks and La Push, but I suppose that it's for the best there are too many memories here. I need to start afresh, to be in a place where Edward and I both don't have ghosts to haunt us. I need to tell him things, and I just can't say them here. I know that he needs to know about my past, my sex life, and about the Volturi. I also know that he needs to know one other thing." I said.

"What's that?" Alice asked,

"I told him that I didn't know how many lives I've taken, well the truth is that I do know. I need to correct that lie. There's a lot of stuff Edward and I have to hash out. It's for the best even if I don't truly want it to be." I said.

Alice patted me on the back and walked away. I had pulled slightly away from most of the Cullen's after I had agreed to the treaty two days ago. I wasn't trying to be unfriendly towards my family, but the truth was that I needed time to work past my emotions. It was hard for me to leave this town behind this one final time, and no matter how correct I knew it was it didn't help my emotions one bit. Whereas I had pulled away from most of the Cullen's that wasn't the case with Edward, my husband. It was like a river, a floodgate had been opened and I had been telling him small parts about my past. The past two nights he had held me tightly as I had fallen asleep while crying in his arms. I had a feeling that after leaving and getting settled in our new home my coming sleep would be another of those nights.

We were moving to Bathurst, New Brunswick. Even with our fast paced driving it would still be well over a twenty-four hour drive. I was looking forward to the drive knowing that it would give me time to think, and that I would be able to spend some of the time dubiously trying to explain to thick-headed Nicole what she was getting into.

I heard Rosalie's vehicle roar to life and hit the gravel.

I lit a match and dropped it into the can of all the memories that I wished I never had. The fire engulfed all the items which I had doused in gasoline and put a helpful layer of timber both above and below.

I headed to my vehicle and got in the driver's side. Nicole was already sitting in the passenger seat, her face straight forward, her arms crossed, and I knew she would give me the silent treatment until I got fed up with her and decided to make our trip even longer. Oh well.

I waited for the rest of the Cullen's to take off before I finally followed. I was hitting two hundred miles an hour before I was ten minutes out, and I took one last look in the rearview mirror as Forks faded from my view for the final time. It would be my last sight of it as I knew I wouldn't ever be coming back.

As the last of it faded, I sighed, and pressed down even harder on the accelerator.

**A.N.: **There is only the epilogue left so please get onto my profile and vote for chapters for the prequel if you haven't yet. Please review.

**A.N. 2: **If I get to 200 reviews I will write an extra scene after the epilogue.


	40. Epilogue

**A.N.: **I would like to thank all those that have read this story, and/or added me to your faves and alerts. I would also like to send out special thanks to Skullqueencb, BaxterDAMan, rosedame, Vanessa Cullen 17, Jits, Trumarine, Alice-Rathbone-is-my-real-name, bailyblack22, Rpattzobsession, tuckerjnp1, xAkashaLunax, T1nkerbell123, serenitynow12, wizziewoo123, Crity, twilight-emily, LordXeenTheGreat, tricklem, Twilight Addict Brenda, evaa shilo, mszikeia415, RisaAnise, Aslyone39, Tish, MexicanaChica21, cazaresa, LOVE IS A GIFT, LisaBebe11, BABYKOOL12, Jazzys-Confederate1861, AliceStoleMyYellowPorsche, Kenbur13, Mandybear576, xxcharlie93xx, brittany86, princessnerra, 1world-traveler, fangsgirl123, linkin4life, Sarkule, JMarie, Bella53323, Captaingeek, VampairePrincess, Smile-J, EdwardxBellaxLover, KATE, MzHelloKitty, and Twilightfreakje for reviewing this story at some point.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own twilight or the characters in it.

Epilogue

Bella POV

It had been almost seventy years since we had moved from Forks. We had moved around quite a lot since then. We were now in Courtenay on Vancouver Island, a lot closer to Forks than I ever thought I'd be again. It turned out that I had lied about not ever returning. Since I had left Forks behind seventy years ago, I had returned trice.

The first time had been for Quil and Claire's funeral. They had finally passed on about sixty years ago. It had been a sad time for all of us, but it had hit the twins the hardest.

Then, almost fifty years ago I had returned for two Quileute weddings that had occurred only days apart. The first had been Seth and Karly's wedding, the second had been Embry and Lynn's.

Then, around ten years ago I had returned on Leah's request as a new pack started rising, because a nomad had passed through. A new pack which included sixteen new wolves, five of which were female. Leah was their Alpha, and they respected her, but she had called me in to help teach them.

Seth and Karly were both still alive though they were now in their late seventies. They had had a total of eleven kids, and between the eleven kids there had been thirty-four grandkids, and there was already one great grandkid.

Embry and Lynn were still a couple, a miracle in and of itself. I believed there very bull-headedness was what kept Embry from imprinting. He didn't want to, and wasn't about to let it happen.

Brandon and Caroline were still in Europe, I had went back and seen them twice. They were doing extremely well, though Caroline was even more spoiled and snotty than Marsha had led me to believe.

Gary and Leah had ended up in an interesting situation. I don't which fell for which first, but they were in love. What Leah hadn't managed to get from her love for Sam she had found in Gary, his grandson. I wondered if that creeped either of them out.

Nicole and Sabir, god how I had failed them. I had tried my hardest to keep both of them on the right track, but in the end it had been null. They had stuck around till a little over twenty years ago, but the gradual rebellion had shown long before then. Twenty years ago they had run off. They were in Europe or Africa. He had returned to drinking human's blood, and she had become a human hunter. They'd come back eventually, of that I was certain, but I had failed them nonetheless.

I had finally told Edward the truths he had needed to hear. I had told him the death toll that I had created, and the amount of men I had slept with. It had been hard for me to give him the numbers because for the 167 vampires I had killed, there had been 311 humans. And I had hated the thought of seeing the disgust and revulsion in his eyes. The number of men I had slept with had been well over a thousand, I hadn't been able to give him an exact number, because I truly didn't know. I had given him what I had known however, that there had been weeks where I had taken a different man each night, and that there had been nights where I had been with more than one man.

I had been right about the disgust and revulsion, but I had a feeling it wasn't aimed toward the right party. I had a feeling that he hated himself for the stuff I told him about, the stuff he should hate me for; like I said, wrong party.

A little over five years ago I found out I could morph into anything. Marsha had showed up and explained to me how it worked. I was the first female from La Push that could. Marsha had showed me how to focus on the details so I could change my hair color, my eye color, my very skin tone, even the length of my hair. After I had begun to understand what it was like I morphed into a vampire with my hair long again.

I had always wanted to be like Edward and now I finally was, or at least I was as close to him as I could ever could be. I enjoyed the freedom that came from being with Edward in a vampire form. I enjoyed the fact that I didn't have to sleep, though I wasn't as happy about drinking blood. It went against part of my ingrained mind as I had spent my whole life killing those that were bloodsuckers.

Chrysalis and Esmeralda had joined the safe haven that Marsha had created. It was there that most of the other female shape-shifters lived. I had never been there, and pretended that I didn't know where it was. Of course, I did, as it had only taken me a few days after she gave me that poem to figure it out.

Marsha was still with Alistair off and on, though their relationship wasn't as serious as Edward's and mine. Marsha barely paid mind to me anymore now that I was actually happy and with Edward. He was what I had been missing all along.

Edward and I had built our own house about a mile from the rest of the Cullen's. For no matter how much I loved them I couldn't manage to get past the fact that they could hear every little sound in that house. There had been no privacy when we had had sex, and it had made me feel under-protected. Building our own house a little ways away had been my quick form of protection.

I was currently sitting on the window seat and looking out absentmindedly, my cell sitting near where I sat. Edward walked in and I looked up at him, his face deeply troubled.

"Bella, love, there's something I need to tell you. Alice has had a vision and… well, and she saw…" Edward trailed off.

"That Aro's coming for a visit? Trust me, I know", I nodded to my phone, "He just called me to tell. Looks like it's time for me to suit up and get back to work."

"You don't sound that upset or that shocked." Edward noted.

"I wouldn't have expected anything less from the Volturi. Alec was right about that much, once a member, always one. And Aro's given me seventy years to get over the fact that they killed my father, more than enough time by his standards. And he's coming here to give me my mission in person so he knows I won't say no. I wouldn't dare as long as you or our family is in the crosshairs. Ingenious on his part", I said.

Edward shook his head, "How can you act like it's no big deal? He killed your father."

"No, he may have been the one that ordered the Volturi to destroy Charlie, but I was the one that killed him. My mistakes were what lead to Charlie's death, nothing more. I made so many of them, far too many really. What Aro is doing now is to be expected. I was one of his best foot soldiers and it only makes sense–in his eyes–that I still should be one. It's not that big of a deal."

Edward shook his head again, "And you're going to go back to killing? Just like that?"

I sighed and looked him full-on. "It's what I do, Edward. I have nothing against causing death. Like Marsha would say, 'Life ends, it's a fact; I just speed it up.' Truer words have never been spoken, Edward. Besides, I have a feeling that I know where he wants to send me."

"You do?"

"Yeah, I did a quick check online after he called. The death toll in Mexico City has hit an astronomical proportion, so I bet that my services are required there. Fighting in Mexico City is always fun, and hectic. The chaos that is caused by all those newborns vampires adds to the thrill. I enjoy it greatly. I know you don't agree with it, Edward, but it's the way my life's been since I became a shape-shifter. I enjoy blood-shed. You dampen my response to it, because I love you so much, but part of me craves it. And I've been seventy years without it."

Edward thought my words through, and then nodded. "Just promise me you'll hurry back."

I laughed; it was shocking how well he accepted it. "Always", I said and got up.

I walked over to him and he sensed what I was looking for. He bent down and kissed me chastely on the lips. I wrapped my leg around him, pulling him tighter to me. Our kiss deepened.

**A.N.: **Well, here's the unfortunate part of a story. No matter if they are good, bad, happy, or sad they all must come to an end. This is this story's end. I hope you enjoyed it. I have no intentions of doing a sequel at this time. I will, however, start the prequel in a few weeks time, with a table of contents being put up next week. I will be taking down the pole on chapters midweek, so if you haven't voted please do so by then. Once again I thank all of you, and I shall also mention that if this story does ever reach 200 reviews I will put up an extra chapter on the end of this. And for one last time, PLEASE REVIEW!


	41. Author's Note Important, Please Read

**Author's Note – Important, Please Read**

I am sorry to say that all of my currently running Twilight Fictions are going to be removed from this site. For those of you that are fans of Red Nights, Alice, Angel's Sisterhood, Scarlet Hate, Death Burn, Sun Of Blood, Soul's Light, and/or my newest, The Hunter; they will be removed from Fanfiction by the end of March. They are taking a hike down the road to The Writers Coffee Shop Library, which you can find at twcslibrary(dot)com, or look it up on Google. All the titles are the same and my profile name is still Jadiona. Forbidden, Forgotten, And Unforgiven, Shadowed Abyss, and Five Years Later will also be put up on The Writers Coffees Shop Library, though I will be leaving the fictions up here as well.

I will finish Sheer Crimson and Gods Of War on this site, and will also put Gods Of Rule up on this site when I get around to writing it. From now on, I will only be posting one shots and rated T or K fanfictions on this site. Due to the fact that Fanfiction fails to have a rating NC-17–which as I've been notified is actually what my stories are–my stories are no longer going to be available on fanfiction(dot)net.

If you wish to read continuations to my stories I will be putting up a link to my TWCS profile, as well as links to the start of each of my stories on my Fanfiction profile. The prequel, Crimson Meteor, to Forbidden, Forgotten, And Unforgiven, will be posted on TWCS, because it is a NC-17 fanfiction. My other story, The Hunter, is changing to a NC-17 fanfiction because I know where I am going in it now, and I know that that rating will be needed, and that is why it is moving to TWCS.

Should Fanfiction ever create a NC-17 rating I will repost all of my stories and continue them, but as of now they will be removed from the site. Most of them will remain up for about a month, but after that they will be removed. When I start new stories that are going to be on TWCS I will mention them on both my profile as well as my fanfictions that will remain up on Fanfiction.

I hope to see reviews from all of you on TWCS, and I pray to hear that you have decided to continue reading my stories. For those of you that I read and review, I will not be stopping reading, I am not abandoning Fanfiction, and I will continue to read and review for all of my faves. I will also continue to Beta. Please know that I am sorry about this, and that if you have any concerns, or wish to contact me, that you can PM me at any time, and if the question isn't too personal to put on a review you can put it on a review for one of my stories and put PA beside it (or Please Answer).

I will make a few things clear. Sheer Crimson will have about seven more chapters, so there won't be many more lyrics. Forbidden, Forgotten, And Unforgiven will still have the extra chapter if I do ever reach 200 reviews. Gods Of War will have two more chapters, with no scheduled date as to when each will be up. All the stories that I mentioned at the beginning that will be ending will be updated one more time after this note.

If you want to see them return to Fanfiction please help to encourage the site to add a NC-17 rating, and I will return when it occurs. If you do decide to continue reading my story but decide against reviewing it on TWCS please send me a PM telling me, so I can give my thanks. They will be updated once a week just like they were on here, I hope that you all join me there, and forgive me for this inconvenience.


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